


Stars of Time

by AnthroLover



Category: Legend of Spyro, Spyro, Spyro the Dragon (Video Games)
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Future, Fantasy, Fish out of Temporal Water, Fish out of Water, Gen, Prophecy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-06-23 14:05:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15607920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnthroLover/pseuds/AnthroLover
Summary: Spyro's deeds went down in legend. Since his noble actions to save the world, life went by. The world continued to spin. New generations of dragons came and went. New heroes and villains were born and died. Now, a new threat is over the world, and a new prophecy is comeing forward. It is time for old heroes to step forward to ensure the safety of the world. Will they succeed?





	1. Unearthing the Past

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Tides of Time](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/404385) by illegal-spyro-fan. 



The sun shone in the sky as the place beneath was bath in its light.

Birds sang in the place as they flew across the land. The lusty-green grass grew across the place, and many small animals were moving across the place as they started to wake up for the life and to move around the world to search for food, water, or some other basic need.

The life went on in that land, and all of the creatures in there were moving by in order to fulfill their own goals and to do their own devises. Of course, this included the ones that were not supposed to be in a place like that…

Across the land, there was a place where the grass didn't grew, and this place was a rocky terrain. This one outstretched up and out in the form of structures that looked like something in between teeth and claws. These were made from rock, but it was no ordinary rock, it was blackened and looked almost like it was obsidian.

These rock formations made a ludic shape in there, which made it look like a blooming flower of stone. However, the similarities ended in there, for a flower was something that was nice to look at. That formation was something that made you uncomfortable if you looked at it for too long, because of the strange shape which remembered something came out of a very strange dream that bordered into being a nightmare, with the "petals" resembling claws of a beast that was ready to grab anything that was stupid enough to walk into them.

That thing was not natural, and that was for sure, for there was no way that the rocks could move upwards and out like that in a natural way, there was no way that it looked like a natural formation of rocks. If anything, that looked like some form of scar tissue that came from a wound that the earth itself suffered a long time ago, and which left behind a mark in the land, as an eternal reminder of the wound that was inflicted.

It was a place where even life itself seemed to refuse to go, once no plants grew in there, and the animals all rather pass away form that place. However, even that did not stopped a few living creatures of actually wanting to go in that place, in search for something.

Among the claws of that formation, there was a cave, which allowed moving inside and down, which was exactly where the group in there was going.

The inside was dark and frightening, and it was the kind of place that would reinforce the idea that the entire formation was like a scar. That only made the experience of walking in there even the more unsettling to the ones who were in there.

"Couldn't this one have ended up in a more welcoming place?" Said a member of the group, which was one that walked on two legs and had a body covered in scales. His scales were of a deep shade of green that made him quite hard to see in such a dark place, with the scales on his chest and stomach being of a color of mud, the same color of the membrane of the wings that he had sprouting from his back. His head was adorn with goat-like horns that were of an ebony coloration, and he had a long tail that ended into a hammer-like tailblade, of the same ebony coloration of his horns. This being was wearing some gear in his body, mainly, he was wearing what seemed to be a metallic plate on his chest with blue trimming, and it looked like something that came from the future. On his arms, he was wearing what seemed to be like bracers that were made of both metal and synthetic fiber, and some similar device on his legs and tail. On his head, he was wearing a device that resembled slightly a helmet, and it was complete with a visor of crystalline material that passed over both of his eyes, which were of the color of brute emeralds. He looked around nervously, as the helmet in his head projected a light from it, forming a cone that illuminated forward, following the direction to which his muzzle was pointing.

Ahead of him, the one who was walking in front let out a throaty laugh, as he looked back to the one behind him. "What, you wanted to find this one inside a big tree in the middle of a field of flowers, like the Hermit?"

This one who had just spoke was bigger than the other one and, unlike him, walked on all fours. He had scales of a vibrant tone of orange, with toasted yellow for his underbelly and for his chest. He had many scaly frills on his face, as well as some small horns on his shoulders that slightly remembered flames. His tailblade was shape like something that slightly remembered a sun, in the color of a deep golden coloration, as a child would depict a sun. His horns were big and imposing, and they were of a pure white color. He was wearing a very similar equipment to the one that the smaller, green, two-legged one was wearing, with the difference that it was of a silvery and green coloration, and that it was adapted for his four-legged body.

"I have to agree it would be nice, especially compared to the place where we found the Jester and the Burglar. I mean I know that they didn't planned to be in there, but still, those places were very hard to reach, even more to take them out of there." He spoke with some humor, and he was obviously trying to lighten the mood. "This place at least has a cozy environment, even though it does gives you creeps." He was able to make the smaller one smile, and he smiled too.

"Okay then." Another, much older voice cut the two ones out. "If the ladies are done chit-chatting, I believe we all have a mission in here.

The owner of this third voice was a four legged, just like the red one, but this one was bigger than him, even if just slightly. In addition, he had an appearance that made him look older by the standards of the dragons, starting with the freckles that he had on his face, the tears on the membranes of his wing, and the dull coloration of the indigo of his body scales. The plates on his underbelly and chest were of a cream color, as dull as the rest of his body, and it was the same coloration of his wing membrane. On his head, he had a set of horns that were undulated backwards, with one of them being broken. On the tip of his tail, there was a tailblade shaped like a trident, and it looked like it was a fierce weapon, even if it had one of the tips of the trident broken, just like the horn he had on his head. He wore the same kind of gear that the other two, but this one of a black coloration with a purple neon gleam, complete with a visor on his head.

"Just trying to ease the moods a bit, captain." The red one said, he continued to walk forward, and the older dragon answered:

"I understand. However, do not forget that we have a mission in here. Terran, do we have the coordinates?"

"Huh… y-yes! J-just give me a moment." The green one got all nervous for a moment, as he raised one of his arms and tapped a few buttons that there had on his armband-like tech armor on his arm. Immediately, the armband came to life, and it projected, from a crystal in it, an image that seemed almost to be what we would recognized as a keyboard.

The green creature, Terran, then started to tap a few of the keys with symbols of this holographic keyboard, and soon, the image expanded, and now, besides the keyboard itself, the image also showed what seemed to be a map. It was a map of the place they were exploring now.

Terran could see in it the three glowing points that were the group, and in another part of the projected image, he could see something glowing in a purple coloration. It could only be it.

"More twenty miles below, and seventy forth degrees north." The green one said, and the red one was the first to answer to that.

"Even  _deeper_  bellow?" He sounded to be almost in disbelief at this. "Man, how did this one got in there?"

"Maybe the same way that the Hermit got inside a tree or that the Priestess got on the top of that mountain." The indigo one said, "After all, we cannot know how each one of them got to be the way they got, can we, Vulcanis?"

"Yeah, but still, what was this guy doing to end up on the bottom of the earth?" The red dragon, Vulcanis, said to his captain. "I mean, don't that make you think?"

"I am pretty sure that there is a very interesting story on how they ended up in here, and I think we will be able to find it out as soon as we take them back." The captain said, "Now, let's get to them so we can actually take them back and get this day over with. I'm dying for a hot tub and some nice coffee."

"You and me both." Vulcanis said, and the group continued to move further. They moved to the right, to the left, and sometime they walked in spiral, but they seemed to go always downward, deeper and deeper. At some points, they had to stop and figure out how to win some difficult terrain, once the walls of the cave were too close together for them to fly.

"I wish I could use my earth element to help in this." Terran said, "I bet I could clear the way to them in no time."

"The earth is too lose and the place is too unstable." The captain said, "If you tried to use your earth element to open a passage for us, or even to try to move a rock on the way, the whole thing could collapse with us inside of it. We would not be able to return to our homes, and neither we would be able to take the Savior back."

"I know. Is just…" Terran said, and the captain chuckled.

"Don't worry, kid." He said to the green two-legged dragon, who was the youngest of them. "Lets just follow the schedule, find the Savior and take them back to the city so they can join the others."

"How did that guy got to be the 'Savior', by the way?" Vulcanis asked, "I mean, the guy must have been pretty badass to have a title like that. What, did he saved a whole kingdom from certain doom? Or he was the leader of his own spiritual cult, you know, like Cosmo?"

"Well, we will know for sure once we find, them, don't you agree?" The captain said, and the group continued to move forward.

"Well, I'll at least expect this guy to be wearing some kind of golden armor." Vulcanis said, and with that, the group continued to walk forward. The group passed by a few more turns and intersections, and a few taps on his console allowed Terran to guide them in the direction of what they were searching. They took a while, but as they moved, the purple glow in his holographic map got closer and closer to them. They were going to arrive soon, and if they continued on this track, they should be sighting it somewhere around…

"I know it is here somewhere!" Terran said as he tapped the keys on the holographic keyboard.

The holographic screen was showing that they were so close to the purple point that they should be slamming into it as they walked. However, they were only in a tunnel that seemed not to lead anywhere. It continued forward, and backwards, by the path where they came from. That which they should be able to see now was actually nowhere to be found.

"It has to be in here somewhere!" Terran said, starting to grow desperate. Could it be that he had made a mistake? Had he lead his group into the wrong direction and wasted their time for nothing?

"Calm down, kid." The indigo dragon said to the smaller one. "I'm pretty sure that we will find it. After all, you guided successfully to all of the others."

"Yes, but we should be able to see it now!" Terran said, "I mean, the map says that the energy comes from here! We should be seeing it right now! Actually, we should be right by the side of it."

As he spoke, the red dragon looked over his shoulder, with a thinking expression. Vulcanis raised his head and looked around, as if he was thinking about it. However, he was not looking back or forward, he was looking at the stone walls around them.

"Maybe I tapped the wrong commands, or maybe the minerals around are interfering with the signals. I mean, none of the other ones was so deep under the ground, it is possible that something in here interferes with the crystals and the systems." Terran continued to mumble as he tapped the holographic screen, unaware that Vulcanis was now walking near the walls, and that he was actually trying to scrap at them with his claws.

As Terran continued to ramble, the indigo dragon looked over his own shoulder at Vulcanis, and he saw the red dragon making his claws become red with searing heat. The red dragon used them to probe at the walls, using the head from his claws to melt the stone and rock and make it easier to pierce.

The indigo dragon walked to his younger companion, and he watched as he worked it out. After a few moments, the red dragon seemed to have found something in the path, and he soon removed his paw, which had gone so deep that his whole arm was inside the wall.

Once in there, he looked inside, and he smiled. He looked at his captain, and the indigo dragon looked back at him and looked inside the hole he had made with his hot claws. Inside in there, he could see something that almost seemed to emit a glow of its own. It was some kind of crystalline material, and it was purple in coloration. In that pint that he had pierced, the captain could make out a shape in the crystal, and it almost looked like… the hind paw of some dragon.

The captain looked back at his subordinate, who was smiling, seemingly proud of himself. The captain smiled back at him. "Well done, young lad." The indigo dragon said, and turned back to the last member of their group. "Terran."

"Maybe if I change the configurations to ignore the residual energy from other possible sources in here, and to resonate in a difference frequency of the minerals that are around us…" Terran continued, seemingly oblivious to what the two other dragons had been doing, literally right behind his back.

"Oy, Terran!" Vulcanis said, making the bipedal dragon turn to look at them. "I might have found the thing we are looking for." He said as he pointed at the hole he had made.

Terran blinked, and rushed forward, looking into the hole and seeing what the two other dragons had seem.

"We need to get the earth out of the way." The captain said, "Think you can clean up the earth in there without causing the cavern to crumble over us?"

"Y-yes sir!" Terran said, and he started to move back, and so did the other two dragons, opening space for him to be able to work without any interference. Terran looked forward to the wall of stone, and he focused, making his hand glow with green energy of the earth element.

He inhaled deeply and exhaled, and he pointed his two clawed hands in direction to the wall, and focused as hard as he could. As if on cue, the wall started to glow in the same color, and it started to rumble and to crack, as the power of the earth element extended its grip into it. Terran moved his claws, taking deep breaths as he used his focus to control his earth element, making sure that he did it with the necessary strength and doing it with precision to avoid the cave collapsing.

It was a slow job, but he was able to work it out. After a few minutes, Terran was starting to pant and to sweat, as the effort of using his element was somewhat tiring to him. The other two dragons watched as Terran continued to work out in cleaning the path for them to reach what they were searching for, and after a while, his efforts were surely having results at this.

As the minerals of the rocks were move to the side, soon what was hiding behind was becoming clearer and clearer. It was a crystal, and it was a big one. As Terran unearthed that hidden crystal, it became clearer and clearer that it was not a normal crystal, once it had a luminosity of its own, and that it gave away a feeling to the ones who were around. It was as if the crystal itself emitted some kind of energy, one that could be felt by them in their bones, and made it clear that this crystal was not a traditional one. Of course, the fact that the crystal seemed to be holding a shape inside of it, like a bug stuck in sap, was also an indicator that it was not the traditional crystal.

"Man, what happened to this guy to end up in here?" Vulcanis asked, as the crystal was revealed more, and the shape of the dragon that was stuck inside the crystal became clearer and easier to identify.

"Well, we will be able to aske personally in a few." His captain answered, and the red dragon agreed:

"Yeah, I bet he will tell us something very interesting. You know, this guy seems rather young to be the 'Savior', I'm wondering if… Wait, there is someone else in that crystal?"

Indeed, as Terran continued to unearth the crystal, it was clear that there was not just a single figure in there, but two. One figure was in a position as if it was standing in the air in the moment that the crystal formed around it. The other one was one that seemed like it was standing in the ground at the moment it got stuck, and this one seemed as if it was looking at the first figure in the moment when that happened to both of them.

By the time that Terran was finished clearing the path to the crystal, he was panting, sweaty, and seemed like he had just ran a marathon of several miles without rest. Still, he was able to look up, looking somewhat proud of himself for what he had managed to accomplish. The purple crystal was right ahead of them, and the two figures in there were clear to see, even though it was just their silhouettes, once the details of their bodies were blurred, and the colors of their bodies didn't helped to identify anything about them, once the purple of the crystal override any of their colors. However, it was obvious that the two figures were dragons.

"Man, two in one! That's gotta be a first!" Vulcanis said as he looked at the two figures that were stuck inside of the crystal.

"Not really." Terran said, as he recovered his breath. "Do you remember Randall and Soren?"

"Yeah, but Randall and Soren are… well, they are The Double, it is different." Vulcanis said, and they continued to look at the two figures that were inside the crystal in front of them. "You think they are both…"

"Not very likely." The indigo dragon said, "But still, we could not rule out the possibility… Anyway, that does not change our mission." He spoke solemnly, as he turned to the other two, and looked at the two dragons. "Get the loads ready, we need to get these two out of this crystal."

"Yessir!" The two dragons said, and Vulcanis looked back to a container that he had been carrying on his leg, and opened it, and started to pull out some objects that looked like mines, each one containing a single crystal in it.

As they worked, Vulcanis threw the "loads" to Terran, one by one, and the bipedal dragon grabbed them with his hands and used them to place the loads into the crystal. Each load adhered to the crystal, almost like a magnet would adhere to a metal, and soon, there were eight loads attached to the crystal.

"Think this is enough?"

"I think it is a bit too much…"

"The loads are prepared to only destroy what they need to destroy. They will get rid of the crystal and get these two free in no time."

"What if they need medical attention by coming out, like Kas did?"

"Then we give it." The captain said simply, and he turned to the others. "Now, I don't know how long they have been in there, but I think it was more than enough time."

"Yes, sir!" The two dragons said once again, they all moved away from the crystal, and were all looking at it.

"Get ready…" Terran said as he tapped a few commands in the holographic keyboard, and as he did, the loads all started to glow. The crystals in them emitting blinks as it would a bomb that were just armed. It was the signal that they were ready to go on with their business.

"Protect your eyes." Terran said, "Fire in the hole!"

"I never got this expression…" Vulcanis said, as Terran pressed the last key with a symbol in it, and immediately, the blinking of the loads became a shining, and soon, the crystals combusted, and the loads did along with it.

However, instead of exploding outwards, as it was normally for bombs, these mines actually seemed almost as if they were exploding backwards, right into that to which they had been attach to. The combustion like effect of the mines spread across the crystal, but only to the crystal, and left everything around nearly untouched.

The combustion made out a glow that was nearly blinding, and the dragons in there had to cover their eyes to protect them from the strong glow. As the glow subsided, it was almost as if they crystal itself was melting away, and leaving behind only a few pieces that were not melted down or that had somehow flew out of the crystal.

The glow of the combustion had also involved the crystal, including the two figures that were inside the crystal. However, as the light subsided, the two figures seemed to be unharmed as the glow subsided. In fact, both of them leaned forward and landed in the ground. A bit of heavily, but overall, they both were relatively unharmed by what had just transpired.

As the glow subsided, the dragons unshielded their faces and to look back at the scene that had transpired. The place where the crystal once was now was vacant, with the borders of the place where it once was were hot and looked seared, as if one would expect from an extremely hot explosion that just happened in there.

"Man, I really love those things." Vulcanis said with a smile on his face, and Terran looked at the two dragons who just fell out of the crystal.

The first one was a young male dragon, who was probably around 15-16 years old. He had a body that denoted muscle that was natural to the young dragons of older times. His scales were of a purple coloration, with the plates on his chest being of a pure golden coloration. The membranes on his wings were of a red coloration. His spear-shaped tailblade and the regal horns on his head were also of a golden coloration.

The other one was a female, and she was leaner and more fragile-looking than the male. She had body scales of a pure jet-black coloration, with a maroon coloration for her underbelly and wing membrane. She had six horns in her head, which projected backwards, as if they were some kind of crown, and the same coloration went for her blade-like tailblade. Curiously, unlike the male, she was wearing some gear in herself, namely, she wore a collar and some cuff-like jewelry on her legs, just above her paws, and one on her tail, all of them of a silvery coloration.

"They are both kids…" The indigo captain said, "They are of the same age as my older nephew." He seemed to be talking more to himself than to the other two. Still, they were seemingly taking knowledge of what he was saying. Well, at least Vulcanis was.

"Well, Shiryu and Shiloh also are kids, and they are quite strong. They are actually younger than these two." He spoke, and he thought that maybe it would help ease the indigo dragon. However, if anything, it had the opposite effect, making him see the event as something even more troubling.

Meanwhile, Terran was already up to them, and he seemed to be checking their vitals. "Kind of slow heartbeats, but that is to be expected, if the other ones are any indication." The green bipedal said, and he looked at the place they were in. "I still don't understand how they…" He suddenly stopped, and he looked at the place.

"What?" Vulcanis asked.

Terran continued to look, and he walked in direction to the place. It was now just a seared crater, and it continued downwards. Terran looked inside that hole, and after a few moments of looking, he turned to the others, saying:

"There is another one in here!"

The two dragons shared a look, ad rushed to look at what the green dragon had been looking. They were able to make out what seemed to be a tail and the paw of a dragon. The paw was twitching slightly.

"Get him out of there!" The captain said, and soon, Vulcanis was climbing down, and he was able to pick up this dragon, who was much bigger than the other two, and bring him up, so the others could take a better look at him.

While the two dragons they took out were just teenagers, this one was surely an adult, and he looked like a dragon who you would not want to mess with. He was bigger than the indigo dragon, and he had a curious coloration for his scales. The ones on his body were of a purple shade, just like the ones of the younger male, but they went more to the red near his paws and also on his snout. The plates on his chest were of a cream coloration, and he had a white marking right on his face, right in between his eyes. He had two sets of horns on his head, with the first one consisting into horns of dark-purple/crimson coloration and elongating on his head, and the second set was of some smaller horns that were around his head, as if they were decoration. His long tail ended into an axe-like tailblade that was dark and looked as if it would be a vicious weapon in a fight. All of which, overall, gave to him an appearance that was of a fearful dragon.

"Man, three in one… that is interesting… even though the female is-" Terran said, but he was cut off when Vulcanis said:

"Is it juts me, or something about this guy gives you the creeps too?"

The two dragons understood what Vulcanis actually meant by that. There was something about the older dragon that really made him stood apart from the two younger dragons, and it was something that made him unsettling. It was not only about the appearance that he had. It was something about him. It was like there was something about him that just gave away a feeling of something that was fundamentally wrong with him. It was like something about his very nature just screamed "danger", or something of the like.

"Seriously, this guy is scarier than the Burglar." Vulcanis said again, setting him down. "What he was doing in here?"

"Maybe he is the father of the other two?" The indigo one offered, and Vulcanis looked in between the three unconscious dragons.

"They don't exactly look alike. Save for the color of the two dudes."

"It is possible that something like that happen?" Terran said, already checking the vitals of the older dragon.

"Maybe… I never heard of anything like that." As the indigo dragon spoke that, Terran was already looking at the eyes of the older dragon. Lifting his eyelids and looking on his eyes, which were a sea of yellow with vertical slits for pupils.

"Man, those are unusual eyes for a dragon to have." Terran said. "But, they do seem to react normally. Well, they certainly look different form the purple eyes of the male and the green eyes of the female."

"But, who are all of these guys?" Vulcanis said, and the indigo dragon looked at them.

"Well, we will have to wait until one of them is conscious, so we can ask."

Suddenly. The sound of someone groaning called their attention. They all turned their heads to the smaller and younger purple dragon, who was seemingly fighting to wake up.

"I-Ignitus…" He mumbled in his state between consciousness and unconsciousness.

"Hey, hey!" The indigo dragon said to the young purple one, approaching him. "It's okay, kid."

The purple dragon blinked, and his purple eyes were out of focus when he looked up at the bigger dragon. "Ignitus?"

The way that the young purple one called for that name almost made the indigo dragon's heart break. Still, he was able to steel himself, and he looked at him. "My name is Aquarius Watercrest. I am a captain of the forces of the city of Warfang. Do you know Warfang, kid?"

The purple dragon blinked, as he looked up. "W-Warfang…" the úrple dragon said. "I-is… everyone safe?"

"Yeah, last time I checked they were…" Aquarius had no idea what the purple dragon was talking about, but he decided to go with it and answer honestly at the same time. "Yeah, everyone in there is safe and happy."

"G-good…" The purple one sai, and then, he seemed to become a little more agitated. "C-Cynder… Where…"

"Oh, the black dragoness?"

"Cynder…"

"She is right by your side." Aquarius said, the purple dragon actually managed to look to the dragoness on his side, and this seemed to calm him down. "See, your friend Cynder is-"

Suddenly, Aquarius stopped talking, as he finally registered the name that the name of that  _black dragoness_  was  _Cynder_. The friend of that  _purple dragon_  was a  _black dragoness_  named  _Cynder_ …

Could it be...?

"Kid, what is your name?" Aquarius said to him.

"Captain, I think he is in no condition…" Terran said from where he stood, right by the side of the bigger purple dragon. However, the captain ignored him.

"What is your name?" He insisted, and the purple dragon looked up at him, before he spoke:

"Spyro…"

Suddenly, it was as if the scene had frozen, and everyone just looked at him as if he had said something that completely changed the world.

"My name is… Spyro…" The purple dragon managed to say, before his eyes rolled, and he was once more unconscious. He had not said much, but what he said was enough to make all of the dragons in there look at him as if he was a being came from another world. Better saying, from something much far away from them.

"D-did he just said his name is…"

"M-maybe he didn't understood the question."

"I think he did." Aquarius said to his subordinates. "He said his name was Spyro. And this female with him, the black dragoness, apparently her name is Cynder…"

There was a huge silence.

"Terran, can you precise approximately how old this crystal is by one of the shards?" Aquarius asked, and the green bipedal took a few moments to react. He climbed down form the arm of the bigger purple one and picked up a single crystal. He put it next to the armband on his arm, and it emitted a light that was now scanning the piece of crystal.

It took a few moments to analyze it, and after a while, it was able to give him a result, one that made him go silent.

"…So?" Aquarius asked, and the green dragon soon raised his head to look at his captain.

"S-sir… The dating determines that the crystal itself is approximately fifty thousand years old." Terran said, and for Aquarius, this left absolutely no doubt on his mind.

The two young dragons they had just unearthed were  _the_  Spyro and Cynder. The two legendary dragons.

"… We found Spyro…" Vulcanis said.

"Yeah… it seems we did…"

"We found Spyro."

"Man, my niece will go crazy over this." Aquarius said, still trying to take a grip over all of this.

"We found Spyro!" Vulcanis was nearly shouting now. "We found Spyro!  _The_  Spyro! The  _actual_  Spyro...! I thought he was older…"

"Spyro and Cynder… wow…" Terran said, "I-I never imagined I would actually be able to see them with my own eyes…"

"So… Spyro is the Savior?" Vulcanis said, and Aquarius was actually able to laugh at this.

"If he is not, then I'll eat my own tail."

"He surely is! I mean, he si the guy who saved the world from-" Vulcanis said, but he suddenly trailed off. His eyes grew wide, as he slowly turned his head to yet  _another_  dragon who was in there.

"What?" Terran said, seeing the way that Vulcanis was looking at the direction he was in, and thinking that the look was direct to him. "What? What is it?"

"G-guys…." Vulcanis said. "I-if these two are Spyro and Cynder… It is possible that…  _that guy_  actually is...?"

The other two dragons took only two seconds to realize what Vulcanis was implying, and their expressions turned into one of horror.

Both Aquarius and Vulcanis looked in there, and their expressions of horror grew as they saw the bigger purple dragon starting to get to his feet.

Terran slowly turned around as he could notice movement behind himself. He looked over, and was completely paralyze by fear as he saw that big purple dragon on his feet, looking down on him with the yellow, demoniac eyes. The aura that he had now all of sudden seemed much more intimidating, if not terrifying.

The big purple dragon looked at the sides. He looked at the dragons wearing these curious armors. He looked at the two dragons in there, unconscious and very familiar to him. He blinked, and took a deep breath, stretching his body for the first time in what seemed to be ages.

Flashes came back into his mind.

_I'm nothing like you!_

_No… I… I don't know anymore…_

**_Welcome to the end of the world._ **

**_You cannot defeat me! I'm eternal!_ **

_Just! Hang! On!_

**_Noooooooo-_ **

Malefor opened his eyes once more, and now, he could see much more clearly. He could see the three dragons in there. Two looked like they wanted to run, and another one looked as if he was ready to fight. The two unconscious dragons in the ground. The young ones.

" **For how long…?** " He asked to the other dragons, with his dark and evil voice. " **For how long have I been down here?** "

The other dragons only looked back at him, none of them sure of what to say or what to do…


	2. Waking Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spyro wakes up in Warfang. However, something is amiss...

What is the first thing that happens when you wake up?

Well, for Spyro, it was the feeling of consciously breathing, the air filling his longs, and next, it came the feeling of his own body, as his muscles slowly came back to life after a time of inactivity. Right next, it was as if his mind was waking up, and it was as if he was suddenly becoming aware of the world around him, when before he was aware of nothing.

Maybe it was a feeling similar that hatchlings had when they first emerged from their eggs and into the world. However, Spyro was still unable to make this connection, as his body and mind both came back from the world of unconsciousness.

Spyro felt his muscles, he moved each one of them, very slightly, as they were still waking up, but he was able to feel them. They were so heavy… but he could feel all of them, and that was what his mind was able to register. After that, he could feel the place where he was laying. It was soft, and it felt somewhat comfortable. Spyro started to get cozy in there, and still, he started to open his eyelids slowly.

It was a hard work, for he felt that his eyes themselves wanted to remain closed. It didn't helped that the place he was in felt really illuminated, what hurt his eyes. Spyro let out a small groan as his eyes adjusted to the light and tried to open at the same time. In this, he got the attention of someone.

An adult dragon, with indigo scales and cream underbelly was sitting by the side of Spyro's bed. He was wearing a golden armor on his body, and a helmet that he had was sitting on the ground next to him, while he was resting on there and reading a book, using one of his paws to hold it. As soon as he heard the groan form Spyro, he stopped readying the book and looked at the purple dragon, seeing that he was waking up. He put the book aside, and focused all of his attention to the purple dragon on the bed.

Spyro stirred his body as he woke up, looking over, he could see a shape. It was a dragon. That much Spyro knew. By blinking, Spyro could take a better look at the creature that was in front of him.

No doubt it was a dragon. He was big, so it was to be suppose that he was an adult. He was wearing an armor, and he was looking worried at the purple dragon.

Spyro groaned as he tried to wake up completely.

"I… where..." He was able to mumble, and soon, the strong voice of the adult came to Spyro.

"Hey, relax, young one." The indigo dragon said. "Your body is still recovering, you have to go easy."

His tune was gentle, and it made Spyro stop for a moment, as it remembered him of Ignitus…

Ignitus.

Memories started to flash in his mind. About Ignitus. About meeting the fire guardian. About being raised and trained by him. About their travel to the mountain… About the fire… About…

"Ignitus…" Spyro said, feeling a wave of sadness wash over his body once again. The indigo dragon looked at him, and he had a sad expression as well, as he looked at the young purple dragon in the bed.

Spyro felt the sadness, sadness for the loss of his mentor and father figure. However, this feeling was washed away when the next wave of memories flooded back into his mind.

Their travel to the mountain.

Their battle with Malefor.

Their victory.

The world breaking.

Ignitus' voice telling him what to do.

Spyro's decision.

The moment when he was doing what he needed to do.

Cynder's voice whispering these words.

_I love you._

Cynder…

Spyro suddenly felt himself snapping awake, his eyes wide and looking at the sides.

"Cynder!" He said as he looked around, and his hastiness seemed to worry the bigger dragon.

"Hey, hey! Calm down." The indigo dragon said to him. "Relax, you are gonna have a stroke like this."

"Cynder!" Spyro said, and he finally was able to fix his gaze into the dragon who was in there with him. "She was with me! We were in the mountain! Where is she?"

"She is in here!" The indigo dragon said back at him, trying to tranquilize the purple dragon. "We found her along with you and brought you two back to Warfang. She is in this very same building, is receiving medical attention as we speak."

The way that the dragon spoke made Spyro relax, but only until Spyro realized what he said.

"Medical- Is she hurt?" Spyro said, and the indigo dragon once more worked on soothing him.

"You both were in a certain condition when you were brought back." He explained to him. "You both needed to receive medical attention once you were in here. You got well quickly, but her case is more serious, so she is still receiving the needed care. Relax, we have the best healers all working on her, she is under watch, and we are giving her all the necessary cares."

Spyro looked up at the indigo dragon. He saw in his eyes that he was telling the truth. This was enough to make the purple dragon relax a little.

Now that he was free from worries, and felt more awake than before, he could finally realize where he was.

He was into a room, a big one, with stone walls, and with some fine decoration, somewhat fitting for a palace, but which also somehow remembered the walls of the Dragon Temple. The room was furnished with some nice things, like a few tables and laying-sofas, and it had tapestries decorating the walls, all of which had the colors attributed to Warfang, with also the corresponding symbols. The light of the place came from three sets of balconies, all which opened to the open air, letting the light of the day come in.

Spyro noticed now that he was laying into a very comfortable and fancy bed. The sheets were of a regal golden coloration, and they were soft and comfortable like few things that Spyro ever had as a bed before. It beat sleeping in the ground, that much Spyro could say.

"I… I am in Warfang?" Spyro repeated, starting to come to grips with the situation. "I… I did it?" He asked, and the indigo dragon was the one who answered to it.

"Yes, you did, young dragon." He said as he looked at Spyro with admiration. "You saved the whole world. Every single living being in the world is in debt with you." He finished as he gave the purple dragon a bowing of his head.

Spyro felt a bit awkward at this, and he looked at the dragon clad in armor. This one had raised his head and looked at the young purple dragon. "My name is Aquarius Watercrest. I'm captain of the 16th regiment of Warfang's army. I was the one who was leading the mission that found you and Cynder and brought you both back to the capital city of Warfang."

Spyro looked at the dragon, and soon, his mind was fishing something back from the depths of it, and he was able to recover something. A memory of a form looking down on him, talking to him, asking him questions. The voice was familiar…

"I remember you." Spyro said, "You talked to me back there! When you found me!"

Aquarius smiled as he looked at the purple dragon. "Yes, indeed, young dragon, I did." He spoke that. "I cannot say how much of an honor is to meet you in person."

Spyro felt a blush forming on his scales. "P-please, don't talk like that." Spyro said, and he looked away. "I really feel uncomfortable with this kind of treatment."

The indigo dragon chuckled a bit. "Well, I guess it is natural to want to act like that around someone like you, after what you did. Still, if this makes you uncomfortable, I won't be the one to make you feel bad; especially after all you have been through."

Spyro felt thankful for that, and he looked at him. "So, is everyone really okay?"

The indigo dragon adopted a more serious tone, and he looked at the young dragon. "Well, we had casualties during the battle with Malefor's forces, but we also had a great number of survivors. The Guardians are among them. All of them emerged alive after the war and after you fixed up the world."

"T-the guardians?" Spyro asked.

"Yes, Terrador, Cyril and Voolter." The indigo dragon confirmed. "All of them survived the war."

"… not all…" Spyro said, looking down, and the indigo dragon agreed with him.

"Yes, Ignitus, the fire Guardian. We are all aware of his fate." He spoke to him, "He will be forever remembered."

Spyro looked down, and after a few moments of silence, the indigo dragon spoke once more: "You suffered no injuries that we could perceive, but you were showing signs of an extremely low life force, and we needed to use some crystals to restore your mana. You are now completely reestablish; still they all said that you should rest now, to avoid your body from overexerting itself once more."

Spyro looked at the indigo dragon, his words made some sense, but still, there was something that Spyro could not ignore…

"I want to see Cynder." He spoke to the indigo dragon. "I need to talk to her."

"She is still recovering." The indigo dragon said to him. "She is in no conditions to talk."

"I need to see her." Spyro insisted.

"You will." Aquarius assured him, "As soon as she is fine and in conditions to talk, the first thing I'll do will be arrange for you two to have a meeting." Aquarius said to the purple dragon. "You have my word."

Spyro looked on his eyes, and he had the feeling that the dragon dressed in armor was telling the truth, and that he could trust him. This was a kind of feeling that Spyro had by looking in the eyes of that dragon, the look in them made Spyro believe that the dragon of the guard was being honest with him. This was enough to make Spyro relax slightly, even though he was still worried with Cynder, if the dragon said that she was being well treat and that he would be reunite with her soon, he felt like he could believe him.

After seeing that Spyro had relaxed enough, the indigo dragon spoke once more:

"Well, I guess that I'll be going now." He spoke to the young purple dragon. "I'll order someone to bring you food, after all, you must be hungry after so long."

"So… long?" Spyro said, confused by the way that the indigo dragon said that. Aquarius looked back at him, and he spoke:

"You were brought back to Warfang three days ago, and you have been sleeping ever since." He explained to the purple dragon.

Suddenly, for the first time, Spyro realized that he felt both hungry and thirsty.

"Yes… some food would be good." He admitted, and blushed as his stomach growled particularly loudly. Aquarius could not help but chuckle at this.

"I'll tell the guard to bring you some food and also water. He will be here with a few minutes. Please, do not leave this room until I come back, and try to relax." He said, as respectfully as he should with the young purple dragon. As he was walking to the doors, he said: "And, Spyro?"

The purple dragon turned to him, and the indigo dragon was looking at him, a smile on his scaly lips. "Many people will want to see you when you are feeling better. It is good to have you back."

With that, the dragon in golden armor walked out of the doors, which closed, and left the young purple dragon alone in that room, to reflect about his whole situation.

Spyro spent a good deal of time on recalling the events that had lead him to this very moment.

It was hard to believe that he had come through all of that. It even seemed that the life that he remembered was the life of someone else.

Years ago, when he was still living in the swamp, and thinking he was a dragonfly, and so, he believed that his life would be pretty much the same that all of the dragonflies in that swam: to grow up, find a mate, and spend his life feeding on butterflies and fruits.

He would never imagine that he would start a travel in which he would discover his own species, would see himself as part of an ancient prophecy that would prevent the end of the world, or would save the life of a dragoness who was not as lucky as he was to escape. He would never imagine himself going into a race to save the world, facing several dangers and problems on his path, and he surely never imagined himself having to fight an ancient mad dragon who thought that he should destroy the world to create a new one.

Spyro would never had imagined any of these things, even on his wildest dreams. Still, that was the path that his life had taken, a path, as it seem, was defined far before his egg even got laid.

It was still hard to believe, and it was even harder to believe that it had finally ended.

Sighing, Spyro got off the bed, tossing the covers aside, and he was able to get out of the warm bed into the cold stone floor. A transition that his body seemed to be complaining about, but Spyro barely gave it any mind.

The purple dragon instead only walked across the room, looking around the details of the place.

 _Did they put me on a room of the palace?_  Spyro thought, seeing just how luxurious that place was, when compared to other places he had been before in the lands of dragons (which were actually not much). It looked like the kind of place in which a noble or a member of the royalty would be staying.

Spyro continued to walk, his claws tapping the stone floor as he walked in direction to the balcony, and soon, he was walking on the outside, and he had to let his eyes adjust to the brightness for a moment before he could look clearly.

He could see the city of Warfang seen from the top of the balcony, and it seemed like it was high.

The purple dragon had a privileged view of the city, with tis smaller buildings, of one or two parks down in there, and he could even see the great wall that surrounded the city. He had a view from that balcony he was in right to the main gate of the city.

"Wow…" Spyro said, as he admired the city from that point he was in. For the first time, he had the chance to stop and look at it without having to be under the fear of a war that would cost everyone's lives. He was able to look at it and to relax as he enjoyed the sight of the city, which had a nice architecture, now that he stopped to look at it with more attention.

He had a particular degree of attention turned to the park underneath him, which seemed like the kind of place that he would like to see closer up when he had a chance. It seemed like a good place to where he could go when he was on a break, or maybe where he could spend some time, or meet up with someone…

His thoughts traveled to the others, like the Guardians, Hunter, and Sparx.

Did they knew that he was in there?

Maybe Spyro should have asked Captain Aquarius about that. His friends probably were waiting for him to wake up and they would like to talk to him now that he came back. Well, Spyro knew that Sparx would want that. He could still remember the look in the face of his adoptive brother when he had to depart to his mission. He was sure that he could expect the dragonfly to come flying at him at any moment in the next minutes, as soon as he would hear that Spyro was in town and that he had finally woke up.

Spyro sighed as he looked around, and in there, he climbed a bit in the balcony, and was looking down on the street underneath as he took a deep breath. He looked to the scenery, when he saw something strange happening.

For a moment, it was like a few parts of the environment got out of focus, and became some kind of blue-colored silhouettes. Spyro blinked and shook his head when he saw that, and looked again, to see that these parts were the way that they were suppose to.

 _Wow… maybe I really need some rest._  Spyro thought as he shook his head once more, and he was getting down from the balcony, when he heard the door of the room opening.

"Hello?" The voice said, and it was different from Aquarius' voice. "Mr. Spyro?" The voice called, "The captain said you wanted some food."

"I'm right here!" Spyro said, letting the one who had just come to know where to find him. Soon, the dragon would come to him. This one was a dragon of gray shades for his whole body, he had a tailblade that was shape like a spiral, and his horns had the same spiraling pattern. He was wearing pretty much the same armor as captain Aquarius, and he was carrying what seemed a plate with a steamy piece of meat in it, along with a bow of fresh water.

The dragon stopped on his tracks as he looked at the young purple dragon, and he just kept staring at him for a few moments. It was like he had never seen a creature like Spyro in his life. Spyro remembered himself that this was possible, because Spyro was currently the only purple dragon alive.

Still, this did not changed the fact the Spyro felt uncomfortable for someone staring at him like that.

"So… may I help you?" Spyro asked, and this seemed to make the bigger and older dragon snap out of his trance.

"Huh? What? Oh! Sorry!" He said, sounding embarrassed as he spoke. "I-I didn't mean to stare, sir! I-its just… I-I-I never imagined that I would be face-to-face with-… I-I brought some food!" He finally managed to say, tripping on his own words as he showed Spyro what he had brought.

"I-I didn't knew what you wanted. I mean, I didn't knew if you preferred chicken or maybe some fish, so I brought you some roasted sheep." He said, and he still sounded nervous. Spyro looked at him for a few moments.

"Well, I do like sheep." Spyro admitted, and he added, "And this one smells really good."

"O-okay. Glad you like the smell. I-it also tastes good." The dragon said, still clearly nervous about all of this. "I mean, I didn't tasted it myself, but I guess that it is good. I mean… I just…" The dragon said, sounding more and more nervous at the moment, and Spyro finally decided to tranquilize him.

"So, why don't we share this sheep?"

"W-what?"

"I mean, I'm kind of hungry, but this sheep seems a little big all for me." Indeed, the piece of sheep that the dragon brought was big. Maybe enough to feed two adult dragons easily. "So, I guess we can both eat it, if you agree."

The dragon stared at him for a few moments, and Spyro even wondered if he had said the wrong thing.

"O-okay…" The dragon said, and he walked in direction to Spyro, joining him in the balcony, and soon, the roasted sheep was in the ground, and both dragons were sharing bites of it.

True to what the older dragon had said, the sheep was correctly roasted, and it was juicy. It tasted really good, as it had been seasoned just right. Well, Spyro himself didn't had many cooked and seasoned food in his life, so he had little things to compare to. Still, this food was one that was really good to have once in a while.

"This is really good." The purple dragon said, "Was it hunted today?"

The bigger dragon hesitated for a moment. "Well, it was just prepared to eat." He said, and continued to eat his part. "Indeed, this tastes really good. The guys really know what they do when they prepare these things."

"Yes, my compliments to the chef." Spyro said as he continued to eat, and he found himself enjoying this, as well as the water from which he took a few gulps to help the food wash down. It was something rare to him, having a chance to eat a good meal and enjoy a nice view, with a windy breeze and the sun beating down. Spyro could also enjoy the sight of the city of Warfang, even though he felt a nudging on the back of his mind that told him that there was something wrong with the scene…

Still, Spyro could really enjoy this, especially with some company. Of course, he still wished to have a different company than the one he had.

"So…" Spyro said, looking at the older dragon.

"Typhoon." The grey dragon said to him. "Cyrus Typhoon. All my friends call me Cyrus."

"So, Cyrus, would you know how Cynder is going?" Spyro asked him.

The dragon looked at him a bit surprised.

"Captain Aquarius said that she was being treated. But, is she fine? They are feeding her?"

The dragon seemed to think for a moment, and after a few seconds, he said: "Well, they say that her state is… delicate, but I'm sure she will be fine!" He finished with a little more enthusiasm. "I mean, she is Cynder! The one who followed you all over your adventures! The one who helped you save the world! She is surely a lot more resilient than other dragons around!"

Spyro smiled at him.

"I mean, just like you! You have been through so much, and you are so young!" He spoke more, and this caused Spyro to blush. "It is hard to believe that you went through so much, and I'm talking to you right now! Oh, my brothers and sisters would be so envious of me right now!"

"I don't know about that." Spyro said, "I mean, I just did what I had to do. I also had a lot of help during this whole thing."

"Yeah, but you are the one who overcome the difficulties." Cyrus continued as he continued to eat. Spyro was already done, but there was still plenty of sheep left, and the older dragon seemed to have a little more hunger as he continued to eat the pieces, one by one. "You are the legendary Spyro! You fought armies of apes and dark creatures! Defeated terrible golems! You fixed the whole world together! Man, I grew up hearing your stories, my mother told them to us to sleep since we were hatchlings!"

"Yeah, I'm sure…" Spyro said, but he suddenly realized what the older dragon had said. "Wait, since you were a hatchling? But you are older than me."

Cyrus almost choked on a piece of sheep after the purple dragon said that, and he found himself fighting for breath, as he looked at the younger dragon, and he looked like he was trying to find a way to justify what he just said.

"W-well… I-I mean… I-I didn't meant really..." He said, and he seemed to almost had a problem to move around in the armor he was wearing. "Damn old armors, why they are so uncomfortable!?" Cyrus muttered to himself.

 _Old armors?_  Spyro thought as he looked at the armor that the gray dragon was wearing. It looked almost exactly like the armor that captain Aquarius was wearing, save for a few details. How could it be an "old armor"? It looked pretty much with what Spyro was told that the armors of the dragon knights and of the royal guard looked like by the guardians and also by the books and scrolls that they had in their libraries.

Of course, Spyro reminded himself that the armors were said to have the same design they had originally for over eight hundred years, but it was still not a reason to call them "old", since, as far as Spyro knew, the ones who fought in the war used them…

The war…

The war!

Suddenly, it was like something in Spyro's head clicked, and he rushed to the edge of the balcony, looking down at the city beneath. A city that seemed not the way that it was supposed to be, and now Spyro knew why it seemed like that.

"The city is perfect…" Spyro mumbled, and the gray dragon looked at himl and at the edge of the balcony.

"Oh, yes. It surely is." He spoke to the young dragon, seeming to be glad that the subject was changed. "Warfang surely is a city like few others. I mean, not there are many cities around to compare, but, you know-"

"The city is perfect." Spyro said, a bit louder, and the gray dragon noticed something off about the way that the dragon was saying that.

"Huhhh, yes?"

"The city was not supposed to be perfect!" Spyro finally said, and he turned to the dragon by his side. "The city was supposed to be damaged as a result of the war with Malefor's forces!"

The dragon looked at him with wide eyes, and now Spyro was looking back at him in a way that was not like before.

"That building!" Spyro said, pointing to a certain building at the distance. "It was not supposed to be there, it was demolished! That road had been covered in rumbles from an attack! That park had been incinerated during a battle with dark creatures!" He said as he pointed at each place of what he was talking about as he spoke, growing more and more erratic at each inconsistency that he pointed out. Then, he finally pointed to the thing that was out of place more than anything, one that he had not even realized up until that moment.

"The wall…" Spyro said, and looked at the wall, which stood tall, proud, and completely whole.

That disturbed Spyro.

"The wall was not supposed to be whole!" The purple dragon said as he pointed at the construction at the distance. "That part of the wall was not supposed to be whole! It was demolished when we fought that giant creature!" Spyro said, and he looked at the dragon.

"I know that none of these things was supposed to be whole, I know that the city was trashed in the war, because I was there!"

The gray dragon looked at him with wide eyes and mouth.

"How the city is not trashed?" Spyro inquiring, looking at the gray dragon with a grave expression. "I was brought back three days ago, right? There is no way that you fixed everything while I was sleeping. All of that damage would have taken weeks to be fixed!"

The tune in the purple dragon's voice was almost one of accusation, and it made the gray dragon stagger a little, as if he was finding for the words to say. He seemed just like a hatchling that was caught with his hands in the cookie jar.

"W-well, y-you see… what happens is… I mean… it doesn't…" He said, tripping I his own words as he was searching for the ones that would justify what the purple dragon had pointed all. If anything, that only made Spyro realize that things were surely out of place.

"I'm really in Warfang?" The purple dragon asked, looking at the bigger dragon with mistrust, and this question seemed that it had hit the gray dragon like a stone right in the face.

"Of course you are in Warfang!" Cyrus told him. "Well, it might not be the same Warfang you knew back then, but-" He only stopped himself with a paw on his own mouth when it was already too late.

"Not the… same Warfang… What does that even mean!?" Spyro demanded, now looking at the other dragon with a hint of anger. Cyrus looked at him.

"Spyro." Cyrus said, and he approached Spyro, "Calm down… Just give me a minute to explain..."

As he approached, Spyro gave some step behind, and now he was looking at the older dragon as if he was dangerous.

"What is this?" Spyro inquired to him. "What is this place? Where I am? What is happening?" His tone was of someone who demanded answers more and more with each question. The gray dragon continued to walk on his direction, while Spyro continued to walk backwards, until they were once more inside the room.

"Just stay calm…" Cyrus told him as he approached more. "If you just go back to bed and try to relax, I can explain everything to you…"

"Where is Cynder?" Spyro asked him, now trusting less and less in the dragons in there, and now wondering if they had lied to him about everything. "What have you done to her!?"

"She is fine!" Cyrus said, "I mean, as far as it is possible, considering how many times her heart stopped…"

"What!?" Spyro cried out, and Cyrus seemed to just realize that he had made another mistake.

"Cynder!" Spyro said, and he was now rushing to the door.

"No, wait!" Cyrus said, rushing to him by using his wind element to rush and to tackle Spyro, pinning the smaller purple dragon to the ground and keeping him in there.

"Let me go!" Spyro said as he was held down by the bigger dragon, clawing aimlessly as he wanted that dragon to let go of him.

"Calm down, please!"

"What is all of this?" Spyro demanded. "Who are you!? Is this another of Malefor's tricks!?"

"Calm down and let me explain, please!" Cyrus insisted, as he continued to hold him down in the ground, and he didn't that with certain care, as if he didn't want to hurt the purple dragon that he was holding down, even though he was determined on preventing him from running away. "Hold still, please!"

"I want to see Cynder!" Spyro demanded, "I want to know where I am and what is happening!"

"If you do it might be bad for you!" Cyrus said to him, "We are all wanting to make sure the transition is the less traumatizing possible for you!"

"What transition!?" Spyro demanded again. "Tell me what is happening!"

"Man…" Cyrus said, as he was searching for something into his armor. "I'm really sorry for this…" he said as he pulled a strange object from the armor. It was shaped somewhat like an ellipse, and one of the round ends opened, revealing a spike that protruded from it.

Spyro didn't know what that object was, but with that pint and metallic tip, he was pretty sure that it was meant to stab. His eyes widened, as he struggled more.

"Let me go now!"

"Hold still!" Cyrus said to him as he tried to hold him down to use the object on him. "It will only sting for a moment, I promise!"

"Let me go!" Spyro said, and he was able to summon his electricity element, forming a stream of electricity that connected with the object. With a jerk of his head, Spyro made the object fly from the hand of the dragon and land right on his neck, stabbing him.

"GAHHH!" Cyrus cried out as he let go of Spyro, who looked at him as he moved about. The object on is neck made some strange sound, and Cyrus soon reached for it and yanked it out of his neck.

He looked at it in shock for a few moments, before he turned his gaze to the purple dragon.

"Y-you just… wohhhh." Cyrus said, suddenly wobbling a bit on his feet, as if he had been hit by a sudden dizziness.

Spyro looked at him as he wobbled on is feet, and his eyes were turning more and more out of focus as the moment passed.

"I… I wonder if any of the guys had to go through this with the other ones…" Was the last thing that Cyrus said before he went down, hitting the ground heavily and staying down.

Spyro looked at him, as he dragon was no longer moving.

_D-did I… killed him?_

However, a closer look revealed to Spyro that the older dragon was not dead, but just unconscious. Actually, it looked as if he was sleeping.

Spyro looked at the objects that he had dropped, as the metallic tip retreated to inside the object, and it returned to have a perfectly round surface.

 _It serves to make others sleep? Is it some kind of magic?_  Spyro caught himself wondering as he looked at the strange object. However, the purple dragon soon caught himself thinking on much more important matters than the ones of the present moment. He had to get out of there, find out what was happening, and find Cynder!

Looking at the doors, Spyro walked to them and tried to push them, but it was hard, it seemed that they were locked. As Spyro tried to force them open, he suddenly saw something very strange happening to them: they lost their focus and for a moment became what seemed to be door-shaped blue constructs.

Spyro let out a startled sound of surprise, and he took a few steps back. That was exactly that he had seen happening to the city!

Just what was going on!?

Spyro lost his patient, and he decided to force his own way out!

Focusing his energy, Spyro allowed himself to be involved by the power of the earth element, which manifested as a green glow around his body, specially over his horns, which seemed to almost grow in size. After a few moments, Spyro looked ahead, and he charged as fast and hard as he could against the doors.

The sound of metal bending and breaking was heard, as Spyro was successful in breaking the doors, and he found the situation around himself getting even stranger.

The outside of the place did not match the room in which Spyro had woke up. While that room was made from solid rock, and had the style of a traditional Warfang royal place, the one in which he had just found outside of the room was like a hallway of material that was somewhere between rock and metal, and it was all white with blue glowing lines running into the walls and in the ceiling.

Looking around, Spyro also looked at the doors, which were now winking blue and out of focus, until they changed from the wooden doors that had he had seen inside there to some kind of metallic doors.

Blinking in surprise, Spyro looked inside the room, and he saw that it was still the same luxurious room in which he woke up, which only made it not fit the outside environment.

 _What is this?_  Spyro thought to himself.  _Where am I? What is this place?_

The purple dragon continued to ask himself these questions, and he felt himself a bit dizzy. It seemed that they had not lied about him still recovering from… whatever it was that happened to him.

Spyro was able to shake it off, and he was able to walk into a direction into that white hallway in which he found himself. Of course, he was just running into a random direction, once he didn't truly knew where he was, but he was pretty sure that it was better than to just stay in there, waiting for someone to come to get him.

However, navigating in that place was starting to prove somewhat difficult for Spyro, once the hallway he was in lead to another, and to another, and these seemed to form bifurcations and crossed roads of hallways. It was becoming difficult to navigate in there, and all the while Spyro had to keep himself out of sight, for he could hear and see other creatures on the hallways.

Many of them were dragons, or at least looked like dragons. Of course, there was the fact that all of them were either four legged or two legged. The two legged seemed to be dragons too, once they also had the reptilian aspect and wings on their backs, but Spyro knew that he had never before seen or heard of any dragon who walked fully on two legs before.

Of these dragons, many were wearing what seemed to be armors, but they looked nothing like armors that Spyro knew that armored dragons normally used. These armors were of a different coloration, and there were parts of them that actually seemed to glow.

 _Could they have some form of magic?_  Spyro thought as he looked at them, and he noticed that some of the parts of the armors had interesting aspect, like a two-legged dragon who was having a conversation with a screen of light that was being project in the very air by part of his armor, and the screen was actually answering to him! It actually made Spyro remember the time when Malefor used that crystal to speak to everyone in Warfang from his hideout in the mountain…

Spyro also passed by some that were wearing what seemed to be white garments on them, and they seemed to be to cover their bodies, and these were treated differently from the others, by what Spyro could hear. It seemed that the ones in these white garments were scholars…

Of course, there were also the doors. Or what Spyro thought that were the doors, once he tried to open one of them, but they didn't budged, and they seemed not to have hinges or handles, seeming as if they were just built as part of the walls.

Spyro even thought that they were merely decoration, or that maybe there was some kind of secret to force them to open, like the doors of the Dragon Temple. His question was answer when he heard a sound nearby him, followed by voices.

_Shlhnnth!_

"I'm just telling you is absurd!"

Spyro jumped and rushed over a corner to hide from sight, and he could see two dragons walking out, one two-legged and one four-legged. The two-legged was wearing one of the white garments, while the four-legged was wearing just something on his neck that seemed like one of the collars that the Guardians always wore.

"They can't charge that entire price just for a small reform in my apartment." The four-legged said as they walked out of one of the doors, which had just opened to reveal what was on the other side. "I mean, I don't even want to change the design, I just want to change the color of the walls and open a little more the windows so we get more daylight! Still, my landlord acts as if I'm asking him to restructure the whole building just because of the hatchlings that will be coming soon."

"You still are lucky." The two legged said; his hands seemed to be hiding in pockets inside the white robe-like garment that he was wearing. "I'm still struggling to pay my rent, and working in here seems not to convince  _my_  landlord that I deserve a little discount. I mean, do you know how many people would  _love_  to live on a building of the New Dawn Company? And with a special discount for working for them?"

"Yeah, but there are so many regulations that it borders on being ridiculous!"

"Still better than the place I live in! They also have intern sports area and gym, a pool, and special intercommunication devices that you can access all free just for living in there. I'm saying that the advantages outweigh any regulation."

Spyro had no idea what they were talking about, and he watched as they went their way across the hallway, and Spyro looked back at the door from which they came from. It was open now.

However, Spyro didn't had time to see what was on the room it lead to, because suddenly, with the same noise that Spyro heard before, the door slid off the wall and closed the gate once more.

 _The doors slide in and out of the walls! That is why there are not hinges!_  Spyro thought, as he made sure that the dragons were gone and that there were no one else coming around as he approached the door, and he touched it. He tried to slide it to the side, but it did not moved, as if it was stuck.  _Now, how did these two made it open?_

Spyro didn't had time to think of it, for he heard a voice.

"How did he managed to get out of the room!?"

Spyro immediately got startled, started to move away from the voice, and was able to hide just as the owner of the voice was walking into the hallway.

"There was a problem during the simulation." Said another voice, a female. "He realized that the city of Warfang that he was seeing was not real."

"Didn't you created a perfect replica?"

"We recreated the city the way that it was supposed to be, but we forgot to add damage that would fit the war from which he participated himself! When he realized that the city was not damaged as he remembered, he realized that the city could not be real."

"How have you let something so important just slip by your minds! You were supposed to be the smartest dragons of this building! For crying out loud! Now we have a young, scared, confuse and, if half of the stories about him are true, very powerful purple dragon running in the facility!"

"Yeah, he sure is nervous with the things that Cyrus told him. That blabbermouth, don't know when to shut his mouth." The female voice said, a bit bitterly.

"I'll have him demoted because of this. But that's for later, now we need to find the Savior before he manages to leave the facility. He surely is already erratic enough, I don't want to think what would happen if he managed to get outside."

As they talked, Spyro moved over the hallway, being able to turn into a corner to avoid getting even close to their line of sight. Spyro was able to remain hidden as he turned another corner, and he continued to hear their voices.

"I want the security staff searching for him, but keep it quiet, to avoid alarming anyone, especially him. The last thing we need is he attacking us and creating a ruckus inside here. Contact the vigilance and tell them to repass the recordings of the security watches, see if they can track him and discover where he is now."

Their voices were getting more and more distant, and Spyro took this as a good sign, as they were moving away from him. However, the young purple dragon was not able to let out a sigh of relief, for there were too many questions going on his mind.

The Warfang he saw from that balcony was a fake? Was it some kind of illusion? They made that to deceive him? With what purpose? Keeping him inside and having control over him? Where he was? What kind of place was that he was into? Was it all another of Malefor's tricks?

Many questions swan into Spyro's head, and the few things that he managed to hear from the dragons had not helped, for they were talking with terms that Spyro did not understood completely.

However, he knew that they were coming after him, and that he needed to avoid that from happening. He needed to get out of there (wherever there was), for once he was outside he could figure out what to do yet…

No.

He could not leave.

He could not leave Cynder behind.

He had to find her and get both of them out of that place.

But… how could he find Cynder when he was barely even able to orient himself inside that place? Spyro had most chances of getting lost in there and ending up getting captured by them than of finding Cynder and being able to escape from that place before they got them both. At worst case, there was a chance that he could actually be killed while he tried to escape.

Still, Spyro knew that only standing and doing nothing would also result in nothing good. He needed to keep moving, at least until he could have a clue of where to go to next. That was it, Spyro needed to keep moving. He needed to figure that place out, find Cynder, and find a way to get them both out of there.

So, Spyro continued to move across the hallways, avoiding detection at all the time. He made sure to avoid being see by any other dragon who was on the way. It was a bit of a challenge, considering the mount of the creatures that were walking around the place. Many dragons, but also other creatures walking around in the place, wearing pretty much the same kinds of garments of the rest of the dragons.

Spyro found it curious. In his life, he saw few dragons in his life, and now, it seemed that he was running into them at every few moments. Of course, this only made Spyro have more questions to himself.

Who were all of these dragons? Why they wore either an armor or the white garments? What were they doing in such a huge place? Did they all served Malefor? They were his servants?

No, it was not likely. Malefor was not the kind who had servants unless he knew that he would have absolute control over him. Besides, the big evil dragon was the kind who would want to keep servants, considering that his goal was to annihilate all life and destroy the world. People like that did not tended to keep servants around for too long.

This entire situation was strange, that much Spyro knew. The young purple dragon decided that he would worry about the meaning of all of that later on, when both he and Cynder were out and away from there and safe. Of course, he had to find her first, and this was proving to be a bigger challenge than he had first anticipated.

The place really was big, and Spyro was finding himself kind of lost in there, once he had the feeling that all of these hallways looked exactly alike, with a few key differences. However, getting lost in there was proving to be quite easy for the purple dragon, who caught himself walking in complete circles over the hallways. More than once, he had to stop to try to orient himself. He also had to turn around and go back to the path where he came from to take another route once he found himself walking into a dead-end. By "dead-end", we were talking both about hallways that ended into walls and others that ended with these sliding doors.

These doors were another issue, for Spyro had to watch them for when they could open and someone would come across the door. It also didn't helped the fact that Spyro was unable to open these doors himself, for he didn't knew how to. That was a very bad thing, for as far as Spyro knew, Cynder could be behind one of these doors, and so, reaching her would require some planning.

This whole place was a mystery to the purple dragon, and he wanted to solve it to be able to escape and take Cynder with him.

Spyro groaned as he just ran into yet another dead end, and this one was a bug door into the wall. Spyro knew that there were others in that place who were looking for him, and if he continued to roam like that, they would eventually find him and do Ancestors-knew-what with him. Spyro just needed to find a way to find Cynder and finding a way out.

As he turned around, the door behind him just opened. Spyro could immediately hear voices.

"I'm going and you won't stop me!"

"Look, I know that you are nervous about all of that! Believe me, we all are! But you can't just- who is this?"

Spyro immediately turned around, and he stopped as he looked at the two… no. Three creatures that had just passed by the door.

The purple dragon stared with wide eyes at the three other purple dragons who looked back at him…


	3. Cynder's Condition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spyro has a meeting with some dragons who have a lot in common with him, and he meets Cynder, but finds out that her sittuation is worse than they told him...

_B-but… what… how…_

Spyro was just frozen in place as he was looking at the three other purple dragons who had just came out of that big portal. All of them were staring back at him as Spyro looked at them with wide eyes.

The first one was the biggest of all of them. She was a female, and she looked down at Spyro with inquisitive eyes, which were of a stunning shade of green. The scales on her body were of a violet-red purple coloration, which contrasted with the deeper shade of purple of Spyro's body. In her underbelly and jawline there was a shade of cream, and her head was crowned by a pair of horns that were sleek and curved, resembling the ones of a gazelle. The membrane of her two wings were of a shade of cream so light that it even seemed to be white. In the end of her tail, there was a tailblade, which looked almost like a scepter, with a round bone with a spike protruding from it. She had a garment around her neck that looked like the ones that the Guardians had, but this one had a symbol that Spyro could not recognize, and there were some tissues coming from it, which fell over her shoulders, and were of a white coloration. Spyro could not avoid to notice just how beautiful she was. Spyro had not seen a lot of female dragons aside from Cynder, and he had to admit that this adult dragoness was indeed beautiful, with a nice body, glimmering scales, delicately made curves, and with a very nice face. Spyro even caught himself blushing as he looked at her.

The second one that Spyro noticed was a male, and he was smaller and younger than the female. Still, he was bigger than Spyro, leading the purple dragon to assume that he was older than him, probably by a few years. He looked at Spyro with an eyebrow raised, with his eyes which were both of a deep crimson coloration, and his pupils were vertical slits that stared back at Spyro. The scales on his body were of a dark shade of purple ( _mardi grass_ , to be exact), and it covered his whole body, save for his underbelly, which Spyro could tell as a dark shade of yellow. He also had a body covered in scars, which indicated that he truly had been in battles before, and his body was beef, indicating that he had his own share of combats in his life. He had his head decorated with a pair of horns that projected forwards, seeming the ones of a demon, and his taiblade was decorated with vicious spikes on it, mean and jagged. As Spyro looked at this dragon, he felt a shiver run through his body. The way that the dragon looked at him gave Spyro chills, and something about him seemed just to say that he was dangerous, and Spyro could easily notice it. He was not as scary as Malefor, though, but he was unnerving nonetheless, this was something that Spyro could not avoid noticing.

The last one was the younger of them, and of that Spyro had no doubt. Spyro had almost not noticed her, but it became hard not to notice when she trotted forward and looked straight at him with her wide, baby-blue eyes. She had a shade of purple on her body that was very close to orchid, and which was soft and very welcoming. It covered her whole body, which was smaller than the other two and also smaller than Spyro, what made the young purple dragon be almost completely sure that she was a young one, that along with her very features, which matched someone young. Her head had small horns that crowned her head, and that were all white in coloration, and actually made her look somewhat cute. Her tail had a few horns in it too, but they were still blunt, as if they were just budging out of her tail. She stopped and looked at Spyro for a few moments, and she just opened a smile to him, and waved.

"Oh, hi!" She said, in a young and friendly voice.

Spyro didn't answered, as he continued to look at not just one, but three purple dragons who looked back at him.

_This… this can't be… There was supposed to be only one purple dragon each ten generations. The only purple dragons alive were me and Malefor… Who are those three?_

Questions popped in Spyro's mind as he just stared dumbly at the three purple dragons who were in front of him, and they looked back at him. Finally, the oldest female was the one who spoke to him.

"Hello." She said, "I haven't meet you yet. You must be the Savior."

"Well, duh." The male said, rolling his eyes, and the oldest female just ignored him, and she continued to talk at Spyro.

"My name is Jocasta. I am the Priestess." She spoke in a calm tone, and Spyro only looked back at her.

"Y-you are a purple dragon…" Spyro spoke, as he continued to stare at her.

"Really? I haven't noticed." The male said, and he continued to look at Spyro, and the purple dragon looked at him.

"You are all purple…"

The male raised an eyebrow, and he looked at the other two. "Please, don't tell me this one is a retard."

"Adamaius." Jocasta said to the male, who just snorted, and looked away, seemingly with no interest in that. "Please, forgive him, he is not very good in dealing with others." She spoke to Spyro. "I guess he still needs to work his skills in socializing, but he will get better once you know him for a while."

Spyro once more didn't answered and now it was the young female who came to him, nearly bouncing as she came to him. "Hi! I'm Shiloh! What is your name?" She asked with a happy voice.

Spyro looked at the younger dragoness, and her happy face made him relax slightly, he didn't knew why. He was about to answer. "M-my name is-"

"It doesn't matter." The male, Adamaius, spoke aloud, and this made all three pairs of eyes turn to him.

"Adamaius!"

"What, it barely matters at this point, right?" The dragon said as he looked at them, his look seeming just as annoyed as his voice was. "I mean, by all I know we could call him just 'Savior', just like the guys around here call me 'Burglar' and like they can  _her_  'Muse'." He said as he pointed at the younger little dragoness, Shiloh. "Maybe there is no point on even sharing names, since these titles seem to be more important."

Jocasta sighed, and she looked back at Spyro. "Like I said, he needs to work his social skills. I guess that he is still nervous about all of this situation, even after nearly three months."

Spyro looked back at her. "T-three months?"

"Yes, three months." Adamaius said, looking beamed, "It was when they took me out of that fu-"

"Adamaius!" Jocasta said, and the dragon stopped what he was saying, instead he just grumbled something.

Spyro looked at them, and his mind was slowly coming to grips to what was happening, even though there were still a lot of questions in his mind. All of these questions seemed to sprout even more questions, all of which Spyro was wishing to see answered, and so, he just felt natural to start to ask questions."

"How are you all purple dragons?"

All eyes turned back to him as he asked that.

"Excuse me?" Jocasta said to him.

"How there are three other purple dragons besides me?" Spyro asked, "I thought there was supposed to be born only one at each ten generations."

Adamaius let out a sound that seemed like a scoff, and Jocasta looked at him for a few moment.

"What do you mean? This is not how it works, purple dragons are born according to the needs of the world." She explained to him.

"But the guardians told me that a purple dragon came only each ten generations!" Spyro said, and he looked at them. "That was one of the things that they told me while I studied with them to master the elements."

Jocasta looked at him, and for a moment, it seemed that she had a realization.

"This guy is older than any of us." Adamaius said, and there was a silence.

"Well… I know that you are confused." Jocasta said to him, in a gentler tone. "I mean, I was too, even after all that they explained to make before letting me out of the room. I felt overwhelmed when everything came to me at once, even with the preparation."

"The room?" Spyro asked, looking at her. "Explained? Preparation?"

"Yes, about how the explained to all of us about the situation. About how we…" Jocasta was speaking, but she stopped as she looked at Spyro, and after a few moments, she asked him. "They… they did explained the situation to you, didn't they?"

"What situation?" Spyro asked, now starting to grow alarmed as the three purple dragons all looked at him. "What are you talking about? What room? Are… are you talking about that room with the false Warfang?"

Jocasta looked at him with worry now, and Spyro could hear Adamaius' voice.

"Oohhh, he knows nothing…" The male had a smirk on his face, almost as if he was finding it funny. "You convinced them to let you out without the need to explanations?" He asked, and looked at Spyro.

"They thought you could handle it?" He asked again. "… did you broke out of the room?"

Spyro flinched very slightly as he said that.

"Oh, you  _did_  broke out of the room!" Adamaius said, his smirk now turning into a grin, and he had a very dark connotation in it.

"What was that place I was in?" Spyro asked them, once more growing nervous. "What is  _this_  place? Where am I? What is going on? Is all of this some kind of trick!?" By the last line, Spyro was demanding more than asking, and the other dragons all looked at him. Jocasta with worry, Adamaius with a smirk, as if the whole situation was funny, and Shiloh looked at him with the curious look that children usually had, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the purple dragon.

"Man, this is gonna be good." Adamaius said, and Jocasta was now approaching Spyro slightly.

"I-I think…" she spoke to him. "I think that maybe you should not have broken out." She was speaking to him in the gentlest tone that she could. "Look, why don't you come with us, and then we will take you back there so they can-"

"I'm not going back!" Spyro nearly screamed, making Shiloh yelp and run to Adamaius leg, holding in as if for safety. "I want to know what is going on! I want to find Cynder! I want to get out of here so I can return to Warfang!"

"Cynder?" Jocasta asked.

"Sorry to tell you pal, but you are already in Warfang." Adamaius said to him, "It might look a lot different, but it is Warfang." He had a smirk on his face as he spoke that. "And you will have to deal with it, along with all of us."

"What are you even talking about!?" Spyro demanded at him.

"Adamaius! Please stop! He is already nervous enough as it is!" Jocasta demanded at him, and this actually had made the dragon flinch a little as she spoke that. Adamaius just "hump"ed and turned his head away.

"I bet twenty red gems that he is going to throw up when he knows everything." He spoke, and Spyro could nearly feel the smirk that the dragon still had on his face, as if it was all very funny to him. This only served to fuel Spyro's worries.

What did he meant by "everything"? What was that he was going to know? Spyro wanted answers!

"Where. Is. Cynder?" Spyro said once more, and he looked at each one of the dragons when he asked that, including the younger one, who flinched a bit. Spyro knew that he should not talk to a young one like that, but he was currently too nervous to worry about that in the moment. He just wanted answers, and he wanted to have them now.

The other dragons looked at him, Jocasta, the older one, looked at them, she seemed to ponder on what to say to that younger purple dragon, and finally, she spoke:

"This friend of yours… this 'Cynder', she was with you when you came here?"

"They told me that they brought her here." Spyro said to the older purple dragoness, "They said that she needed medical attention, so they were giving it to her." He explained what was explain to him earlier, but he was now with certain doubts if these words were actually truth.

"I see… so she must be in the medical wing." Jocasta said, and now Shiloh finally spoke.

"Oh! Is she that black dragoness who is sleeping all the time?" Shiloh asked.

Spyro perked at this.

"Yes! Cynder is a black dragoness!" Spyro said, the others looked at him, and Adamaius started chuckling.

"What is so funny?"

"Man, that dragoness is more to the other side than to this one." He said to Spyro. "I took a look at her when I was in the medical wing, and she did not look okay."

"Adamaius! Stop! He is already nervous enough!" Jocasta demanded, and this actually made that dragon flinch. He looked away, and she turned back at Spyro. "Look, we can solve this whole situation. If you follow us back to the room and let everyone explain-"

"I'm not going back!" Spyro roared, and he got into fighting position. "I want to see Cynder! Now!"

There was a silence as the other dragons looked at him. Shiloh had actually yelped and run to seek shelter behind Jocasta's leg. While Adamaius looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he smiled a little. "I'm starting to like him." He spoke, but Spyro simply ignored him and kept his eyes on all of the three purple dragons.

Jocasta looked down at him, and she sighed, "Okay." She said, as gently as she could, "We will take you to the medical wing. Please, follow us." She said, and she turned around and started to walk.

Spyro was hesitant for a moment. Where they really going to take him to Cynder? They had been insistent for him to return to that room. What if it was all a trap? Would they lead him to a dead end and then attack?

These and much more questions popped in Spyro's head as he looked as the dragoness walked past that portal, which opened once again as she just walked closer. After a few moments, he was brought back to reality as Adamaius voice resounded.

"Hey! Do you want to see your friend or not?" He asked him, sounding annoyed, and he continued to look at him. Shiloh was right by his side, and she was looking at him expectantly too. Spyro looked back at them.

Spyro was worried about Cynder, and he wanted to see her to know that she was okay, and maybe to help her escape, if she was being kept prisoner in there too. Of course, he was still not sure if he could trust these purple dragons who he never saw in his whole life, however, at the present moment, he had absolutely no other choice.

He started to follow, and soon was walking right behind Jocasta, while the two other purple dragons were behind, closing the line behind them. The purple dragons now were walking across the hallway, and soon, they were getting into more and more doors, which opened as soon as Jocasta approached.

"How do you open them?" Spyro asked, and Jocasta looked down at him.

"Oh, is because they gave me clearance to walk around." She explained to him. "They made sure that the doors recognized my presence, so they would open up for me with only a thought."

Spyro looked at her surprised. "The doors… recognize you? These doors are alive?"

"No. Not really… It is… a bit complicated…" She said to him, and she sighed, "I really wish Muddlin was here, he really can explain this way better than me." She said, more to herself than to Spyro, and the purple dragon only continued to look up at her.

He almost felt like asking her more questions, but he would be diverging from the important thing at paw: finding Cynder and rescuing her. All the questions could stay for later. Even because, by what Spyro knew, he was not sure if the answers that she would give him would be truth…

As Spyro walked by Jocasta's side, Adamaius and Shiloh both walked behind them, and Adamaius seemed to be smiling to himself.

_Man, I really need to see someone freaking out today. This is gonna make things a little bit better._

As he smiled, Shiloh was walking by his side, and she was looking at the purple dragon ahead of them. Suddenly, it was like something clicked in her mind, and she started to hop in place as she walked, and to make excited noises. Adamaius looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What? Need to go to the bathroom again?" He asked, and she looked at him.

"Its him! Its him!" She said, pointing at the purple dragon walking by Jocasta's side. Adamaius looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and he asked:

"Well, it surely is a  _him_ , otherwise, it would be a very ugly  _her_." He said, and Jocasta continued to hop as she walked by his side.

"It is him!" She said, "He is a purple dragon with golden horns! And his friend is a girl with black scales named Cynder!"

"What are you-" Adamaius started to ask, but he trailed when his mind wrapped around what exactly Shiloh was trying to point out. His eyes widened when he got a hold of that thought, and his head whipped at the dragon that was walking ahead of them.

Could it be…

No.

It could not.

There was no way.

He was too young!

But… The appearance, and the black dragoness named Cynder…

Could there be any possibility that…

No. No, it couldn't be.

"It is him! It is him!" Shiloh continued to say, hopping in place as she looked at the dragon ahead of her. Adamaius remained silent for a few moments.

"No… It… it can't be. Must be a coincidence."

"It is him! It truly is-"

"It is not!" Adamaius said firmly, causing Shiloh top look at him. He continued to look forward, and now he was no longer smiling as he looked at the younger purple dragon who walked right by Jocasta's side.

"It cannot be. It is a coincidence." Adamaius said, more to himself than to Shiloh. "It is just a coincidence. It has to be…"

More ahead, Spyro and Jocasta were both oblivious to the words exchanged between Shiloh and Adamaius, and they just continued to walk into the hallways. There were hardly any words exchanged between the two of them, and they just continued to walk.

They made some turns in here and there, and doors opened as Jocasta walked close. Soon, they were into another part of the building that differed from the rest. It was in a softer tune in the walls, from white to baby-blue, and it made the place look a bit more welcoming than the cold grey that was the rest of the place.

As they walked, Spyro could almost notice that the place somehow  _felt_  different. As if the very air in there seemed to be somehow different from the rest of the place, as if the place itself seemed to want the ones in there to feel better and more comfortable.

"Here is the infirmary." Jocasta said, "They usually bring someone here when they are sick or when there is an accident. They also treat the soldiers in here if they get hurt during their missions."

"Is Cynder here?" Spyro asked, and Jocasta looked down at him.

"If she is in need, she will be in here." She said, and turned her head around. "Adamaius, you said you saw her in here?"

She was asking the other male purple dragon, but he seemed to be lost in thought, and his gaze seemed to be focused on Spyro…

"Adamaius?" Jocasta asked again, but was ignored, "Adam!" She called out, and this seemed to make the purple dragon snap out of it, as he looked at her, and she asked: "You said you saw the black dragoness they brought. Where you saw her?"

Adamaius looked at her, and he sighed, walking forward, and passing by both her and Spyro, as he said: "Follow me."

When he walked forward, he nearly bumped into Spyro, and meanwhile, their eyes meet very briefly.

 _Why is he looking at me like that?_  Spyro thought as that male purple dragon passed by him and took the lead, and the others followed him. It took only a few minutes, and soon they were entering into a part of the infirmary that had several beds in there.

Spyro looked around at the beds, all of which seemed to have a certain circular design, and were grey in color with white sheets. Some of the places were the bed would be seemed to be covered into some kind of dome that came from the wall and involved them, leaving behind only a certain silhouette of the bed, almost as if it was some kind of curtain.

Just what was this whole place?

As they walked, they could see other creatures in there, one cheetah, a two-legged yellow dragon, and a two legged light-grey dragon. The former two were wearing white garments, while the four-legged dragon was only wearing something around his wrists and neck.

As they approached, Spyro could hear the bigger dragon saying: "… even though her state is still very fragile. We need to keep a watch over her to make sure that she won't have another episode." Said the four-legged dragon, and the cheetah soon spoke:

"I really wish we could ask for help to the Sage, I mean, if someone could solve her problem it would be him."

"I agree, but he is far too busy with the others." The four-legged said again, "We need to do the best with what we have."

"But we couldn't help her in the past three days." The two legged one said, "And her heart already stopped seven times since she arrived. What if next time we can't bring her back?"

Spyro perked at this. Were they talking about Cynder? They said that her heart had stopped beating seven times!?

"Where is she?" Spyro asked before anyone else could call their attention, and that did the job. The three ones in there turned their heads at them.

"Oh, it's you!" They said as they looked at the four purple dragons who had just walked in, and they didn't seemed to be surprised by the amount of purple dragons, but their eyes focused into the one that was with them. They gazed at him for a while, and one of them said:

"I-its this…"

"Where is she!?" Spyro demanded, "Where is Cynder?"

They all shared looks. "Huh… s-shouldn't you still be in the room?"

Okay, that was it, Spyro was officially sick of everyone telling him that he should be in that room and that he should come back there!

"Where. Is. Cynder!?" Spyro demanded, and now he was actually baring his teeth, and this made the three medics give a step back. They looked genuinely scared of that young purple dragon. The four-legged one raised his wrist, and tapped a few buttons in it.

Immediately, there was a sound as the dome that was around one of the beds seemed to just vanish in the air. In there, in the bed, there was a familiar black dragoness.

"Cynder!"

Spyro immediately rushed to her, and as he approached the black dragoness he could see that she did not looked okay. She was pale, and her appearance denoted that she was sick. Looking over, Spyro noticed that she had a few string-like materials coming out of her legs, and some attached to her chest and to her neck. Next to her, there were some things, one of them were bags filled with liquids, and they seemed to be dripping and leaking something. The other one was some kind of box that was emitting sounds.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

As Spyro was next to the black dragoness, the other ones in that room looked at him, and slowly, the medic grey dragon started to approach him. Once he was close, he spoke:

"Her condition is very delicate." He was saying that as kindly and politely as he could. "It seems that when they took you two out of there she somehow took it harder than you."

"Took us out?" Spyro said, still looking at cinder, worried for her looking so sick. His head turned to the doctor, and he asked: "Out of where?"

The doctor hesitated for a moment, as if he was deciding if he should or should not tell him something.

"Out of where?" Spyro asked again, and the doctor looked at him, and he seemed to have taken a decision.

"Well… according to captain Watercrest, both you and her were found inside a great crystal. Being in there preserved both your lives as it keep you both on a state of suspended animation. However, it seems that the time you spent in there somehow took a tool on both of you." He explained, and Spyro continued to look at him. "You were less affected, maybe because of your condition as a purple dragon. Cynder, however, took it worse. Her vital force has been greatly affected."

Spyro looked from him back at Cynder.

"Couldn't you use some crystals on her?" He asked, the doctor sighed.

"Well, actually, it was the first thing we did when she arrived." The two-legged dragon doctor said as Spyro looked at him. "But, it seems that her case is more serious than that. The crystals are miraculous for dragons, but even they have some limitations. It is like her own spirit was wasted for being inside that crystal. It seems that her life goes away fast and she needs to receive constant flux of mana only to keep breathing." As the dragon said that, he gestured to one of the bags that was attached to her, and Spyro took a look at it. For the first time, he realized that it was filled with some kind of liquid that glowed, and it actually made the purple dragon remember a lot of the crystals…

It was like they had found a way to liquefy the crystals and somehow turn them into something that could be put straight into the bloodstream…

Spyro looked at Cynder, seeing her breathing slowly. She looked so fragile and so sick.

Was he responsible for that? It was because he used so much energy to save the world that it actually affected Cynder?

Why didn't she left when he told her to? Why she had to stay?

She couldn't die now. If she died because of his actions, Spyro knew that he would never be able to forgive himself…

Spyro thought about what the doctor had told him earlier, and he wrapped his mind around it.

"You said 'the time we spent in the crystal'…" Spyro said, looking again at him. "Was it a lot of time?"

There was a huge silent, and the doctor looked away. Spyro also noticed that the other two doctors seemed very nervous all of sudden, as if that subject was a very delicate one.

All that Spyro could think about was about the last time that he and Cynder were inside a crystal. They had come out to discover that three years had passed since they had last saw the light of day. Now he had a feeling that he may have spent more years inside a crystal, and that the world could have moved on while he was in there. That would actually explain a few things…

That was, assuming it was truth. Spyro had not yet ruled out the possibility of that all being a trick of Malefor.

"Look…" The doctor said, "I really can't really explain everything to you… maybe you could talk with the captain… I mean… he was the one who was supposed to keep watch over you…"

"Aquarius Watercrest." Spyro said, looking at him once more, and the doctor nodded.

"Yes, Watercrest is a good dragon, and he is a very good soldier, truly someone admirable." He spoke that as if he was trying to convince Spyro. "Look, why don't we call him and wait for him to come? Once he arrives we can all talk this out, and maybe he can explain to you-"

The doctor didn't have a chance of finishing, for in that moment, the machines that were attached to Cynder started to emit sounds. At the very same time, Cynder was started to shake in the bed, emitting what sounded like strangled gurgles and gasps, as if she was trying to breathe, but as if breathing was physically painful to her.

"Oh, no." The doctor said, and Spyro, on his end, went to her.

"Cynder? Cynder!" He cried out as he held her, she was cold, and her body seemed as if it was covered in sweat. She would not stop trembling, and her trembling seemed to be evolving into some form of convulsion.

The cheetah came near, and she checked on the black dragoness, before she said: "She is going into shock again!"

Immediately, the dragon doctors walked forward, and they were soon around her.

"Increase the amount of mana essence, and add some mana stabilizers!" The four-legged said as he stood very close to Cynder, checking her body. Meanwhile, the other dragon, the two-legged one, used his hands to handle the dripping material and he seemed to increase the flux of the liquid that was leaking from it into the black dragoness. At the same time, the cheetah picked up a syringe and filled it with a purple fluid from a flask.

The other purple dragons watched, and Jocasta seemed to be trying to make Shiloh look away from that. The young dragoness looked at the scene before her, while Adamaius was one that actually looked neutral.

Spyro, on his own end, was freaking out.

"What is going on!?" He asked, "What is happening to Cynder!?"

"Please, let us work." The yellow dragon said, gently pushing Spyro away, and Spyro, for some reason, found himself unable to do anything but to comply with what he asked. Meanwhile, the machines attached to Cynder were going crazy.

"Her heartbeats are out of control!" The cheetah said.

"Add 30 milligrams of pressure regulator!" The four-legged said, "We can't let her heart stop again!"

 _A-again...?_  Spyro thought, and he could only stand back and look as the doctors were doing things to Cynder.

Spyro had no idea what they were doing, as his mind seemed to have gone into shock. He looked as the doctors continued to handle Cynder, applying injections into her, using some devices, and also sometimes they seemed to do things to her, in particular the yellow dragon, who seemed to have the element of electricity.

"Her heartbeat is out of control! At one moment it is too fast and at another it is almost stopping!"

"Maybe some medicine to make it go slower?"

"It could stop beating!"

"Something to make it go faster!"

"Then her heart could explode!"

"We could put the medicines in succession, to help in each moment!"

"The strain could make her heart give out! We can't do this kind of thing!"

"Oy! Focus, you two! We might lose her!"

She was not going to die…

"She is entering shock!"

She was not going to die.

"Increase the amount of mana!"

"It is not working!"

She was not going to die!

"Nothing is working! We will lose her!"

SHE WAS NOT GOING TO DIE!

Spyro finally snapped, and he moved forward, startling the doctors as they got on their way.

"Cynder!" He said, as he placed both hands in her chest. Her body was still shaking and was growing colder by the moment. Her breathing was growing more and more ragged at each passing moment. "Cynder, please, hang on!"

The other purple dragons looked at the scene before them, and Jocasta was now using her wing to cover Shiloh, to prevent her from witnessing what she knew that was coming. She was far too young to have to deal with something like that…

Adamaius continued to look as he had a neutral expression in his face. This kind of "freak out" was not the kind that he expected to see to cheer himself up. He could only look ahead, and he was having a strong urge to look away as the scene continued to unfold.

"Cynder, please, hang on!" Spyro continued to beg, as he was seeing Cynder's life slip out of her as he held her, before his very eyes. He could feel moist forming on his eyes, but he didn't care.

"Cynder, you can't die now!" He said, nearly begging. "We have survived so many things together! We passed by so much! Please! I already lost Ignitus! I… I can't lose you too!"

Tears started to slip by his face, and no one dared to do or say anything.

"Don't die… please… Cynder…" His tears fell.

"Don't leave me alone!" He cried out, and immediately, his paws, which were touching Cynder, started to glow. This startled everyone in there, including Spyro himself.

However, his paws continued to glow, as Spyro could feel energy flowing from himself to Cynder. The effect was nearly immediate. Cynder seemed to almost relax, as her body was stopping to tremble, and her breathing was becoming less ragged. It was as if her body was receiving what it needed from Spyro.

"W-what is going on?" The tow-legged yellow dragon said, stunned, and the grey dragon was the one who answered.

"H-he... he is healing her…" He was absentminded as he spoke that, for he was far too surprised, as well as everyone else around him.

Spyro was able to register what he said, and he decided that this was what he needed to do. Spyro pressed his paws harder into Cynder's chest as she focused, and the glow became stronger as the flow of energy from him to her increased.

"Cynder… please… you have to live." Spyro said, as he continued to give Cynder his energy… his life…

"I can't lose you too…" Spyro said. "Cynder… I own you so much… I care so much about you… I… I love you… Please, stay with me…"

The others around continued to look, and after a few more seconds, Spyro winced, and so did the black dragoness. The machines let out some more alerts.

"It is not working!" The cheetah said. "He does not have enough power!"

Spyro winced again, and he tried to put more energy, but it seemed that he didn't had much of it left in him. Cynder was starting to look paler, and Spyro was about to enter in despair, when another paw came forward.

Spyro looked up, and he saw Jocasta in there. She held her paw just above Cynder's body, and it started to glow, in a way very similar to the one that Spyro's paws were emitting. The glow emanated from her paw and washed over Cynder in a way that almost seemed to be waves of pure light. Immediately, it was like that light was having the very same effect that Spyro's glow was having.

Spyro looked up at her, and she just looked back at him. That look in her eyes was more than enough for Spyro. He just nodded, and went back into what he was doing.

It seemed that the combined effort of the two dragons was having a positive effect. Cynder's appearance was becoming better, and the machines attached to her were making signals again, and the cheetah looked at them.

"I-its working…" She said, as she looked at the machines. "She is stabilizing."

The others around just looked as the two purple dragons worked their magic into the black dragoness. After a few more moments, the color was returning to her features, and her breathing was becoming more regular. She seemed to be turning better only through the efforts of the two purple dragons.

A few more moments, and they both stopped. Spyro stopped first, because he let out a gasping breath, as he now used both of his paws to support himself in the bed, his body nearly leaning in the bed as he took deep breaths. Upon seeing him like that, Jocasta herself stopped, and looked at him.

"Are you okay?" She asked, but Spyro barely heard her, as he was now looking at the black dragoness in the bed. He appearance was much better now, with the color having returned to her and her breathing was normal and calm. Spyro reached a paw to touch her, and upon touching her face, it felt warm.

"Cyn… der…" Spyro rasped through jagged breaths. As if on cue, the eyes of the black dragoness fluittered open, and Spyro's purple eyes could meet her green ones.

"Spyro…" She said, and the purple dragon was able to smile at her.

"Yes, Cynder, it's me…" The purple dragon said, and he smiled, as Cynder's eyes soon closed again and she rested in the bed, but she was alive. Spyro knew it, and this made him relax. He felt tired… so tired… Cynder was okay, and so, he found himself relaxing more and resting… Spyro was asleep before he realized it.

However, around him, the others were looking at the two sleeping forms, but in particular, they were looking at the young purple dragon.

"S-Spyro?" Jocasta said, sounding stunned.

"Spyro…" Adamaius said, his voice somewhat distant.

"Spyro!" Shiloh said, she sounded excited.

"Spyro." Said a new voice, making everyone turn around to look at the owner of that voice. Aquarius walked in the room, looking at the sleeping forms of the two young dragons in it…

* * *

Spyro groaned, and he stretched his muscles as he stirred himself awake, feeling like he had run several miles in a row. For a moment, his mind was blank, as he tried to wonder where he was and what had happened.

Suddenly, flashes came into his mind.

Spyro blinked, and he slowly opened his eyes, and saw Cynder.

She was laying in the bed, along with him. They were close to each other and, due to the position they were laying, Spyro could look right into his face as soon as he opened his eyes. He blinked to clear his vision and see better her face, as the memories came back to him…

"Cynder…" He said tiredly, as he outstretched his arm and close the distance between him and Cynder, so he could gently touch her face. It felt warm on his paw, and he could feel her breathing. She looked peaceful. She looked fine. She  _was_  fine.

Spyro smiled as he let the memories just pass by him as if they meant nothing.

"It was a dream…" Spyro said, calm. "It was all just a dream…"

There were a few moments of silence, as Spyro simply enjoyed being so close to Cynder as he let all that he went through be forgotten as a dream.

However, this was denied by a familiar voice:

"It wasn't."

Spyro's eyes widened, and he was able to raise his head, to look above Cynder's face, and he could see a familiar dragon standing in there. A dragon who wore a golden armor, and who looked at the purple dragon with a serene, but serious expression. By looking at that dragon, more memories came crashing down to Spyro, as he simply looked back at the dragon, a look that soon turned into a stare.

"You…" Spyro said, and the dragon in armor only continued to look at him. "You." Spyro said, more firmly, his expression hardened, and his body tensing as he almost seemed to be getting ready to fight. Aquarius was quick to try calming him.

"Don't do this, please." The indigo dragon said. "It is not the place nor the time for something like that. Besides, you still need to recover."

Spyro looked at him, and he looked around. The room was different. It looked different, even though it had pretty much the same style of appearance of the previous room.

"Are we in that room?" Spyro asked him. "The room with the false Warfang?"

Aquarius looked at him, and after a few moments, he just sighed, and nodded, not saying a word, but it was more than enough answer for Spyro, who groaned and tried to stand.

"Please, just listen to me." He said, and Spyro continued to glare at him, but stopped in mid action. "I know that you are nervous after what happened, and I don't blame you. I guess that in your place I would not trust me either. But I just want you to hear me out."

Spyro looked at him, and after a few seconds, it seemed that he had decided to listen.

"What is this place?" He asked, and Aquarius looked at him, before saying.

"We call it 'Simulation Room'. We often use it to train the cadets and to practice all kinds of situations." He spoke. "But, in this case, it is serving to another purpose."

"To deceive me." Spyro said, and the dragon in armor was quick to correct him:

"To protect you from the shock." He said, "To get you ready."

"Ready for what?" Spyro asked, and Aquarius looked at him for a few moments, and after a while, he sighed, it was as if he had just taken a decision, and he looked at Spyro, and he soon started to say.

"When you and Cynder saved the world, your actions somehow caused both of you to be trapped in a crystal." He spoke, and this seemed to rekindle something inside Spyro's memory. "This crystal preserved your life and your youth, while the years passed out here."

Years…

Spyro looked at the older dragon, and he was able to form words:

"How many?" There was no answer, and Spyro asked again. "How many years we spent trapped in a crystal this time?"

Aquarius looked at him, and his expression was almost one of pity, and he sighed. "More than the three years of the first time." He looked at the purple dragon, and he continued, "During the time you two were trapped, the world moved on." He spoke, "Things have changed. Dragons were born, and others died…"

"My friends!" Spyro said "Hunter! The moles! Sparx! The Guardians!" Aquarius looked at him.

"They have long departed. I'm sorry." Aquarius said, "There are new dragons who are currently exercising the duties of Guardians."

For a moment, Spyro felt numb. He looked away from the indigo dragon, and just stared at the distance, as if his mind was trying to register what was just said to him.

There was a long silence, as Spyro seemed to have forgotten that Aquarius was even there, while Aquarius didn't felt like saying anything to him just yet. After a while, Spyro seemed to regain his presence of mind, and he lowered his head, looking at the bed. Aquarius seemed to have decided that it was time to talk again.

"The world has changed a lot while you were inside the crystal." He explained. "So much that you could possibly not understand it. If you went out there and saw what Warfang has become… Well, maybe your mind would not be able to process it. At least that is what our scholars say."

Spyro didn't answered, and after a while, Aquarius actually thought that maybe Spyro had really not listened to him. However, the purple dragon looked up at him, and he asked:

"This is a trick?" Spyro looked at him as he asked that question. "This whole story is just a trickery?"

It was an honest question, and after a few seconds of silence, Aquarius answered to him:

"No. This is really happening. I'm sorry."

There was another brief silence, and Spyro asked. "Are… are we really in Warfang?"

"Yes." Aquarius said to him. "This building is located in the city of Warfang. However, the city itself has changed a lot since the day you last saw it." He explained. "In this room we could recreate Warfang as it was in your days. We decided to do it because, if you woke up and found out the Warfang that 'we' know, maybe you could flat out reject this reality."

Spyro looked at him, and he pondered at what the indigo dragon had told him. There was another silence. Before Spyro raised his eyes to look at him again.

"You said something about 'getting me ready'." Spyro asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean getting you ready to face the world as it has become." He explained to him. "To explain to you how things have changed. This way, you can receive the information little by little, so the shock will be smaller when you know everything."

Spyro looked at him, and after a while, he just sighed, as if resigned, and he looked at Cynder, knowing that she could probably be all that he had left now…

"But… that can wait for tomorrow." Aquarius said. "Right now, you need to rest. Both of you."

Right now, after all that had happened, Spyro could not help but completely agree with the adult dragon, suddenly feeling even more tired…


	4. What Has Been and What Will Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, explanations finally come to frution...
> 
>  
> 
> So, this is quite of an explanation about what this story is about. I still don't know if I'm giving too much on too little time.
> 
> Also, in my opinion, this chapter was a little rush, but it was because I didn't wanted to waste too much time in long explanations, and I actually wanted to compact everything into a single chapter, and I hope I have done an acceptable job.
> 
> You will probably notice that the evolution of the world of dragons is like ours, only in a much slower pace.
> 
> Also, as you will see, I started to use soundtrack for this story, and this is music of the YouTube, made by the talented Emily - RollForFantasy. She is very talented, and she allows these soundtracks to be used under certain rules and conditions, as long as we do not take credit for her music. She also has very nice sites, check it out, she is awesome ^^
> 
> Anyway, this is the chapter, please, Read and Review, for input is always welcome. Also, I welcome all constructive criticizing, but please, no flaming.

The day had passed after that conversation with Aquarius, and after that, a lot happened.

First, Spyro had a long time of sleep, and he only woke up when Cynder woke and started to nudge him awake. All of his worries seemed to vanish when he was able to see Cynder’s face again, but that was soon replaced by a dreadful feeling as Cynder asked where they were and how they ended in there.

Spyro took a while to decide what to say to her. Shee noticed that, and started to press him for answers. Spyro didn’t wanted her to go through the same that they did, but he also didn’t want to lie to her.

He eventually decided to explain to her what had happened to him since he woke up, only the essential, and he omitted a few parts, like the condition that she was in, and how close she had been of dying back there. He decided that this part was best left unsaid for now.

Still, he told her the same thing that Aquarius had explained to him, how he accidentally trapped both of them in then crystal, and how years had passed outside, and he also explained to her about the fake room they were in.

“Wait, you mean none of this is real?” Cynder asked after a stunned silence after Spyro explained everything to her. Spyro nodded, and it took a while for Cynder to come to terms with what Spyro had explained to her. She even brought forth the possibility that this was all a trick devised by Malefor to deceive them. Spyro himself had not ruled out the possibility completely, but he had already convinced himself that this was not entirely truth, and he believed in it less and less with time. This was just too complex and to elaborate to be a trick, also, Spyro had a feeling in his chest that Aquarius was not lying to him.

Soon after that, Aquarius came in, and he was bringing some food for them. Cynder looked at him with mistrust, and she hesitated before eating what he offered, but she eventually accepted the food, and she ate it.

She also came to trust Aquarius, as he seemed to have a way with words and to be the kind of person who gave out a good feeling to others. He also helped Cynder to come to terms with what she had been told, and while Cynder was still hesitant to accept it, she also felt less inclined to believe that this was a lie.

Aquarius promised to start the explaining in the following day, and said to them that they should get some sleep…

“Sleep? But it is in the middle of the day.” Cynder said, looking outside, where the sun was shining brightly. Aquarius sighed, and looked up.

“Guys, please! It’s late already! Don’t confuse them!” He said, and after a few moments, the lighting of the environment started to change, from a yellow to orange, and finally to a dark and shadowy environment.

The day had just shifted to night.

“W-what the…” Cynder mumbled, flabbergasted, and Spyro himself was not much better.

“This room is a simulation created by our professionals who are in another place of this same building.” He explained to them. “From there, they can control nearly everything in this room. Since the room is not real, they can make things in here that could not happen in the outside world, like what just happened.”

“So… they just flipped night and day?” Cynder asked, still stunned.

“It is nighttime outside, they merely kept the room in the ‘day’ setting, and they just switched it now to fit the time of day.” Aquarius explained. “Sorry about that, they sometimes make mistakes and you have to remember them.”

Cynder and Spyro looked around, and the purple dragon said suddenly:

“Wait, they can see us now?”

“Yeah, they can watch and hear what happens in this room from their own room.” Aquarius explained. “They use this to help keep track of the trainings that happen in here, so they can control the room to change according to the needs.” He said, and he looked at the two dragons in the dim illumination of the room. “Well, I guess now you two really should go to rest, tomorrow you two will start to receive some explanations about what happened after you two vanished. It will be… something.”

The two dragons shared a look, and Spyro nodded at the bigger dragon, before Cynder herself did the same. Aquarius nodded back at them, and he soon exited the room, leaving the two dragons alone.

( ** _soundtrack:_** **Snowflakes at Night - Calm Fantasy Music, by Emily - RollForFantasy, from YouTube** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M4uHwvPxQA>)

There was a silence, before both dragons decided that they needed to do what Aquarius had told them, and go to sleep. They both made it to the bed and they laid on it.

“Hard to believe this bed is not real.” Cynder said, “I mean, this bed feels real… and comfortable.”

“Yeah, it does.” Spyro said, and he got a bit comfier in the bed, and after a few more moments without saying nothing, Cynder spoke again:

“So… they are all gone?” She regretted having asked that almost immediately, because of the grief that spread in Spyro’s face when she did.

“I guess so…” He said, in a pained voice, and he looked at her, and she avoided his gaze.

“What about the other purple dragons?” Cynder asked. “How there are so many?” She asked him, and Spyro didn’t answered.

“Could it have something to do with Malefor?” Cynder asked him, “I mean, I do remember him mentioning that there were other purple dragons before himself…”

“They looked too young…” Spyro said, “Cynder, I really don’t think Malefor has anything to do with any of this…”

They went silent again, and after a few moments, Spyro looked at her, and he asked: “Cynder?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you remember the core of the earth? When I was ready to fix the world…” Spyro looked in her eyes.

“Yes…” Cynder said, starting to get lost in these amethyst-colored eyes.

“You said something…” Spyro said, and he felt his pulse quickening. “You whispered… You whispered a few words to me…”

Cynder looked at him for a few moments, without really getting it. However, soon the memories came back to her.

She knew that one or maybe both of them could not make it in the end. That was a critical moment. It was the definitive moment. It was then or never. So, she whispered these three words…

“S-Spyro…” Cynder said, and she continued to look in his eyes. “I-I…”

“I heard what you said back there, Cynder.” Spyro said to her, and then, he gently reached out a clawed paw to touch her face. The touch caused chills to go down to both of their spines. They just looked on each other’s eyes for a while, neither of them saying a word.

“Spyro,” Cynder finally said, breaking the silence, and the purple dragon only looked at her with loving eyes. Cynder felt her heart getting warmer by receiving a look like that from him the purple dragon. However, she also knew that…

“Spyro… I really meant what I said back there.” She spoke to him. “But… we should focus on what is going on now.”

Spyro looked at her. “Oh…” he said, and she could see a small spark of sadness forming in his eyes.

She leaned forward, and she gently nuzzled him. This surprised Spyro, but he was actually able to purr slightly in the touch.

“Later.” Cynder said simply to him. “Let’s focus on what is happening now. We cannot think on too many of these things at the same time. Let’s focus on this now. After this is done, we can focus on… well, us.”

Spyro felt his heart fluttering as she spoke that, and after another look in her eyes, he just nodded. She smiled at him.

“Goodnight, Spyro.”

“Goodnight, Cynder.”

And with that, the dragons went to sleep, but now, they were closer to each other, and they were actually cuddling…

* * *

“D’awwww, that’s so sweet!” A male voice said as its owner looked at the two dragons who were in the bed that appeared in the screen, as they went to sleep

“I told you that there was love going on between those two!” Another voice said, it was another male voice. “You don’t go through the things that they gone through together without falling in love!”

“Yeah, maybe.” A third, female voice said, “Still, these two sound as if they just started something.”

“What is this, a soap opera?” A fourth voice, also female, made all of them owners of the three other voices jump slightly, as the female continued: “Look, we already screwed up with the city in Spyro’s case, and I’m pretty sure it was because some of you were too busy ogling over him and wondering about his past! The last thing we need is to repeat this mistake, and this time with both of them! So, save your own musings about any possible relationship between them for later and focus on your job!”

“Yes, ma’am!” All the three other voices said, as they went back to check the consoles that they had in front of them. Meanwhile, the female continued to look into the screen, looking at the two dragons that were now sleeping in bed. She had to admit, they did made kind of a cute couple, this only made her wish that they could have a chance to enjoy their youth and this young love better, because she knew that pretty soon this was going to be denied to them…

* * *

In the following morning, Spyro and Cynder soon were with Aquarius in front of them again. After a light breakfast, the indigo dragon in armor was still standing in front of them, and they both looked at him as he stood in front of the two younger dragons.

“So, I assume that it is time to start explaining to you most of what has happened in the time you two were in the crystal.” Aquarius said to them, and he looked at the young dragons. “So, it will basically be the most basic of the basic and general notions because if I were to explain everything… well, it would be too long.”

Spyro and Cynder shared a look, and they nodded to each other, before nodding back to the older dragon.

Aquarius nodded at them, and he turned to the balcony. “Come with me.” He said to the two younger dragons, and these two soon were following him to the balcony. Standing in there, they could take a look on the outside, where they could see the city of Warfang. It was perfect and glorious, as they both had been told about it, and it was mostly the way that they remembered, save for the damages that it had suffered due to the actions of Malefor’s armies.

“Wow…” Cynder said, it was very hard to believe that the whole city that they were seeing was actually fake. How much power was necessary to recreate a whole city like that? How could something like that be recreated as a mere illusion? She could feel the wind in her face, the sun in her scales. It was hard to believe that all of that was a lie. Of course, that cause her to have her own suspicions about this whole thing.

“This, is the Warfang of the time that you two were young, right?” He asked, and while none of the dragons could actually affirm that they saw it with their eyes, they both could agree that it was correct, so they nodded.

“Well, with the war, it surely suffered some serious damage, and it probably looked something like this.” He said, and as if on cue, the buildings of the city started to change, losing their shape and becoming blue-colored constructs, which reshaped themselves in order to match what Aquarius had said. The buildings were destroyed, there was a part of the wall down, and some streets were full of rumble from the battles.

This change surprised both Spyro and Cynder, who looked down in the fake city that had transformed in front of their very eyes. They looked up at the older dragon, and he looked back at them.

“Like I said, anything in this room can be changed by the ones who are in control.” He said and looked back at the city. “So, after you two made your noble sacrifice, the survivors were ready to start to rebuild.”

( ** _soundtrack:_** **Passage of Time - Calm Fantasy Music, by Emily - RollForFantasy, from YouTube** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhh5muf3xNE>)

As he spoke, the image of the city once more started to change, and now, it was showing the damage being rebuild. It was possible to see the constructions being worked on by dragons and other creatures, but all of those were constructs of blue color and a ghostly appearance. They were working on rebuilding the city, and they also noticed some of them working in what seemed to be statues of the two young dragons.

“Needless to say, everyone was extremely thankful to both of you.” He explained, and after a while, the city was with a new appearance. Nearly completely reconstructed, and now it seemed to be ready for some kind of festival. “So much that they created a great festival to celebrate what you did. A festival where all of the dragons and their allies would gather to be able to celebrate the fact that they were alive, and to pay tribute to the dragons who gave their lives in order to ensure that they would have a future.”

Spyro and Cynder looked down.

Spyro was not sure if he liked to know that people would pay tributes to him like that. He was never a dragon who enjoyed being in the center of attention like that. Cynder, on her end, looked as the people in there seemed not only to be paying tributes to Spyro, but also to her.

“It was the kind of thing that was fated to become a tradition.” Aquarius said it with a smile, but soon, his face became serious, and he continued.

“However, as a result of the war, damages were made, both to the world and to the ones who lived in it.” He continued, and the environment changed again. This time the decoration of the festival was gone, and now there were some creatures down there, of varied species.

“Some of those came to make agreements with the dragons, and others came to demand them to help them, since it was one of their own the responsible for that.” He explained, and Spyro and Cynder looked down there. “During this, the dragons made alliances with certain races, while others had not received what they thought was due, and gained a strong enmity with the dragons, the kind that would take a long time to disappear. The tensions were high for the eighty years that followed.”

Eighty years…                                

“Of course, during this time, the alliance with the other races has led the dragons to interact more with them.” Aquarius spoke. “The result was a level of closeness with others that the dragons didn’t had before.” As he spoke, the city seemed to change, and now the buildings actually looked somewhat different. “The result was that some of the allied races came to live in the city of Warfang, and they helped to change and affect the city with their own traditions and styles of living.” He explained, and they could see many different species down there, not only the dragons or moles.

“Of course, this change was gradual. What we are seeing in here is a fast-forward version, because if we were to see the process in its real speed, we would stay here for nearly four hundred years.”

Four hundred…

“Of course, this meant that many things changed as well, like the politic, arts, economy, architecture.” As you can clearly see in here. As he spoke, the buildings around changed once more, and this time the city looked different as a whole. The wall was still in place, but the style of the buildings seemed to have changed, as if the one responsible decided to change the style for something that he considered to be better. It was possible to see how much the city had changed.

“This is Warfang, six hundred years after the day you two saved the world.” Aquarius said, and he looked down at the two young dragons.

Six hundred…

“Of course, during this time, the previous guardians had long joined the ancestors, and they left behind a legacy that is still remembered. For in that time, there was only one dragon temple, but Malefor’s attack on it left clear that this left the eggs too vulnerable. So, more temples were created, and today, there eight temples spread across the whole world, each one dedicated to a population of dragons, and each one with their own Guardians.”

Spyro and Cynder paid some attention to what Aquarius was telling them, but they were too focused on the fact that they had lost six hundred years already. However, what worried them was that Aquarius still talked about it in the past. As if there was more to it than what he was saying.

Aquarius looked at the two young dragons, and he said: “Well, I think this is enough for now.” The two young dragons looked back at him. “This is a lot of information, and I guess you two need your time to take it in.” He said, and asked, “So, would you like some food? Maybe water?”

“Y-yes…” Spyro said, and soon they walked inside, and something was immediately noticed by the two dragons.

“Does this room looks different?” Cynder asked, and in fact, the room had changed, just like the rest of the city.”

“This room is a reflection of the city outside, as it changed with time.” Aquarius spoke. “Now, I’m going to get you two something. Please, wait for me in here.” He spoke as he left, leaving the two young dragons to their own thoughts…

After that, the day had passed rather quickly in the two young dragons’ eyes. Aquarius seemed to have decided that it was enough for one day, and he promised to continue the story on the following day.

* * *

As he promised, on the following day, Aquarius was with them in the balcony, and they were looking down at the town below, and the older dragon continued to explain.

“So, as I said yesterday, some of the species were not happy with the dragons.” He said, “And some of these species had actually decided to unite against us.” He spoke that, and the two young dragons looked at him. “They were convinced that dragons only thought about themselves, and that they could turn on someone on the blink of an eye. So, these species came to avoid dragons and to compete with them for territory and for all kinds of resources, and this was the kind of situation that would lead the world to the brink of a new war.”

As he spoke, the city down there looked as if it was getting ready for combat. The two young dragons looked at him, and he looked back at them.

“It was during this dark time, that a small glimmer of hope appeared, and this was a purple egg.”

Both dragons knew what that meant.

“Of course, there were mixed feelings in relation to the egg, for while some hoped it would be a noble dragon like you, Spyro, some feared that it could turn out like your predecessor.” He spoke that, and he continued to explain. “However, the hatchling that came out of the egg turned out to be purple dragoness of many skills, and owner of a great and kind heart.”

As he spoke that, the two young dragons noticed a shape flying in the air. It was a dragon, a female one, and unlike the others, it had a purple coloration. “She was a source of inspiration to the ones around her, and she grew up as a wise dragoness who was able to avoid the war.” The other species looked up at her, and they all seemed to look at her with admiration and a sense of wonder. “She never had to fight, and yet, she was able to stop the war from happening, and creating a time of peace. A peace that lasted for nearly four hundred years.”

Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, as they were hearing about more and more time passing.

“Of, course, by the time that the peace she created was threatened, she was already gone.” He spoke, and the image of the purple dragoness, now an adult, vanished in the air. “Eventually, the peace would be threatened by a great of time of low food and starvation, which led many to a brink of desperation, which only rose the tensions not only among species, but also among the ones of their own species, as it was not uncommon for the dragons to start to turn on each other.”

“It was during that time of need, that another purple egg was laid.” Aquarius spoke, and the two dragons looked up at him. “Only two hundred years after the death of the previous purple dragoness, and breaking the traditional notion that purple dragons were born only once in each ten generations.”

He looked at the young dragons as he spoke. “Today, we have a much better notion about the births of purple dragons. Most of it is still a mystery, but what we know is that a purple dragon is born in moments of great need, or so most of us believe. Anyways, that purple dragon, was born as a member of a humble family, and he grew up feeling the hardships of the time.” He explained, and the two purple dragons looked attentively to the older dragon as he explained that, as if his words were of a priceless value.

“That dragon also learned to control elements, and he used his skills with a different purpose.” He spoke, and as if on cue, the two young dragons could see a dragon walking in the streets, and this dragon seemed to be causing plants to grow behind him as he walked. “He had rare abilities that were related to what we know as the _Nature_ element. An element that is closely related to the Earth element, but it is also fundamentally different, for while Earth deals with minerals, the nature elements deal with what we mostly recognize as vegetal life. This is a special element, one that the purple dragon used to revitalize the land, and to solve the problem hunger that plagued the lands.”

“He was able to bring hope and prosperity to the land with his skills, until the day that he passed away.” He spoke, and the image of the dragon walking on the streets disappeared and so did the plants that he made grow. “After this, five more purple dragons were born in the span of two thousand years. Each one being born during a time of great need and tension, and each one playing an important role in defending the balance and the peace of the world.

Two thousand years…                    

“Well, I guess this is enough for today…”

* * *

On the next day, Aquarius was once more with the young dragons on the top of the balcony, and he looked at the two young ones once more. They both seemed as if they had steeled themselves, and Aquarius only nodded to them, as he once more started to give them explanations:

“So, after the birth of the last purple dragon in the span of two thousand years, there was a period of peace. It was far from being perfect, but it also was not a dire need. During this time, no purple dragon was born. It all lasted for a little more of twelve hundred years.”

Spyro and Cynder just nodded, and Aquarius continued. “That was when war broke between the dragons and the unicorns.” He explained. “There were few species that could rival the dragons in sheer power, and the unicorns were one of these species, with their magical capacity that was said to surpass even the dragons themselves. So, during the time of the war there were high casualties on both sides, and this seemed as if it was going to be the end for many. That was when another purple dragon appeared.”

As he spoke, a new purple silhouette, appeared, and this one shone as it flew, and Spyro and Cynder took a good look at it in the distance.

Did this one had… two heads?”

“That occasion’s purple dragon was one that stopped the war, and with this, dragons and unicorns finally started to some to terms, but it would still be a long road before they would be able to coexist and to call each other ‘friend’.” Aquarius explained, and soon, the purple dragon that was flying vanished, just like the others. “Of course, after this, life continued, and the times were in waves of turbulence and peace, and in the times of turbulence, a purple dragon was frequently born.”

He explained, and the city continued to change around them, sometimes showing prosperity and happiness, and in others the mood was of tension. “During this time, the dragon species itself divided in sub-species.” The dragon spoke, “Some attribute this to a regular thing that happened that led some different dragons to appear and to reproduce, generating descendants that were different from the traditional dragons who walked in two legs and had wings. One of these, were the ones known as ‘faun dragons’.” He said, and he gestured to a figure that was walking in the streets, that looked like a dragon, but was smaller, and walked on two legs, with two arms and wings on its back. “Named like this after the faun species and, like the other sub-species of the time, they faced a lot of problems to have a place in society, being considered something unnatural and that should not exist.”

Spyro and Cynder both shared a look. Aquarius continued: “During this time, there was a great war happening, as a family of dragons wanted to take down the royal family and assume the power through a coup. During this time, another purple dragon was born, as it was usual during the turbulent times. However, this purple dragon was in an unusual condition for two reasons. First, he was the first purple faun dragon...” He said as he gestured to the faun dragon that was walking in the street that Spyro and Cynder both had noticed, and only then they noticed that the two-legged dragon was purple. “The second was that he was born on the same family that wanted to siege power.”

Spyro and Cynder both looked up at him. “He was trained to one day become their soldier. Their weapon. And for a time, it seemed that they would succeed into making him this. However, they would not be able to predict that this dragon would eventually side with the royal family, and help suffocate the attempt at a coupe.” The dragon explained, “And this dragon would be able to work for the royal family as an important advisor, until the day that he faded from the world.” With that, the purple fawn dragon disappeared, along with the others.

“Of course, the world would continue to move on, and five thousand more years would pass, as the world evolved and changed, and this all changing the way that the world was and the way our society behaved.” As he explained that, the world started to change once more, and this time, the design would change into something that we would, nowadays, recognize as something of the Renascence period.

Spyro and Cynder could already make the count in around ten thousand years that they had passed in that crystal, and it sounded as if the explanations were not already done, if the way that Aquarius was speaking was of any indication.

“Well, I guess that you two have already heard a lot for one day.” He explained, and looked at both, who looked up at him with that look again, the look that made him be sure that he made the right thing in stopping now…

On that night, Spyro and Cynder both had a very heavy sleep, but it was not tranquil by any means…

* * *

On the following day, Spyro and Cynder had some difficulty to get up of the bed, and they ate the food that was brought to them in the renascence-style table and room, and they both soon were on the balcony once more with Aquarius, and it took a while before the adult dragon finally put himself to talk.

“Well, with the advancement of our society, the way that we behaved changed a lot, and some of that was due to the purple dragons.” He explained, making the two young dragons look up at him.

( ** _soundtrack:_** **Passage of Time - Calm Fantasy Music, by Emily - RollForFantasy, from YouTube** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhh5muf3xNE>)

“Yes, other purple dragons were born with time, and each time they were born, they had an important part in the history of our world.” He explained, and as he spoke, images appeared in the air of ethereal purple dragons. “However, not all purple dragons are warriors or saviors, some of them were individuals that brought forth improvements to the world and good news. Some of them were artists, scholars, inventors, explorers…” He explained, and the images of purple dragons appeared and disappeared in the air, and along with them, the world continued to change.

“Some of them were key individuals of our history, that brought forth knowledge that changed the world, or played fundamental roles for the advancement of our society and of the way that we live. One of them was the one who developed a new way to make machines to work through their own volition. Other was a scientist who spend his life researching the working of crystals, and ways to apply this knowledge to the everyday life, and opened the door to a great deal of developments. Another one was a studious that became physician and a medic, and this way, he was able to open doors that were priceless to the advents of our modern medicine.”

As Aquarius spoke, the images continued to appear and disappear, showing different purple dragons who exercised the functions that he was describing. One of them was an inventor that was working in what seemed to be small portable machines that moved with their own devise, almost like the golems, but much smaller, another was a purple dragon who was using some equipment to examine crystals that he had on his paws, and the last one was a doctor that was treating another dragon, who they could assume that was a patient. Each one of these images lasted while Aquarius explained, and soon they vanished to give place to others.

“All of these purple dragons played a priceless role in our development, and they helped us grow as a culture and to become closer to what we are now.” Aquarius continued. “For the next few thousand years, we evolved, with the help of both the dragons who gave us advancements, and the ones who fought in battles to ensure our future each time that a war would come our way.”

As he spoke, the environment continued to change, and the style of the houses once more changed, and now, it was closer to what we could recognize as houses in the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th. All the while, the purple dragons continued to look.

“Our ways of dealing with the world changed as we evolved, and soon, we were in a level that the dragons of our past could not even conceive.” He explained, and the purple dragons looked down. They could see the streets of Warfang, but they looked different, not only the houses were different, but the ones walking in the street also were dressed differently, and there were some kind of machines moving in the street, that looked like chariots that were not pulled by anything. Not only that, but other machines moved into the street with the use of special rails.

The two dragons looked with a lot of interest into the world beneath them, and Aquarius looked at the two of them, wondering if it was enough for now. Spyro looked up at him, and he asked:

“There is more to it, there isn’t?”

Aquarius looked at him, and he sighed. “Yes, there is.” He said, and he started to explain. “Overtime, there was a great conflict happening in between nations of our world, and this conflict would eventually blow into a great war.” He explained, and this time, it took a while for the change to happen, but it did happen.

The world changed to show a Warfang that seemed to be getting ready for war. The dragons wore armors that were of a different style than the ones that Spyro already knew and that he already saw Aquarius using. These armors seemed lighter and more aerodynamic, and they seemed as if they were made for battle.

“This war would be a difficult one to fight. As it was to be expected, a purple dragon was born during that time.” He said, and another purple image appeared, this one wearing armor like the others. “This dragon would be one to fight in the war, and his actions of bravery and strength would be an inspiration to all of the others who fought in that war, and they would have a priceless value.”

Soon the images were changing, and the purple dragon vanished, along with the signs of war.

“The war would eventually end with our victory, but the scars of the war would manifest in a dissatisfaction and resentment that would last for many centuries, and at some point, someone would try to take advantage of it.”

The images soon changed, and the city showed signs of war, with destruction and barricades on the streets. “This war would be much more serious than the previous, because this new leader of the enemy forces was someone who wanted to keep the world under his claws, and so, he would use every force that he had to oppress the ones in his ruling. He was a tyrant who was willing to go to the very last consequences to be able to achieve his goal of putting the world under his command.”

The images once more showed the dragons, moles, cheetahs, and many other species mobilizing for the war and, among them, it was possible to sight another purple figure.

“As you probably guessed, another purple dragon had been born around that time, and he too was listed to take part on the war.” Aquarius explained, “This dragon was one of bravery and great intelligence, and he would become a tactician general that would device strategies that caused a great revolution in our military strategies ever since. It was thanks to his ruling and to his great intelligence that we were able to change the tides of that war, and grant us to once more have a victory that ensured the future of the world.”

Soon, the images of the war ended, and these ones were replaced by the images of a great celebration going on, and among the celebration, some were being target of the cheers of the crowds, among them, that purple dragon, who was dressed into fancy garments that reflected what the young dragons assumed was the attire of a general in the time.

“After that, we came to a time of relative tranquility.” Aquarius said, and now, the environment around them was much closer to what we would recognize as something that belonged to the appearance of a city during the time of the end of the 20th century and start of the 21st, including architecture, appearance of the streets, and the presence of technology and fashion.

The two young dragons continued to look down, and Aquarius sighed as he looked at the young dragons. “So, which one of you is hungry?” He asked, and soon, the two dragons walked inside to have some needed and deserved food.

The room they were in now resembled a presidential room of a very expensive building, and it looked fancy and modern at the same time, very different from the traditional room that they would recognize from their own time. Still, the young dragons were realizing that the appearance of the room was actually mattering little to them, in comparison to all that they were learning in the past days.

They ate some food, and this time, they were also offered what seemed to be some kind of desert with their meal, and it was something really sweet and that they both liked.

After the food, they were allowed to roam in that room, that was now filled with some of the “inventions” of the time that Aquarius talked about, and these included “showers” that released water on them for bathing, and also some cold food cabinets called “freezers”. These were things that both Spyro and Cynder thought interesting, as well as one square thing that they had in the room and that Aquarius said that was a “television”, still, they both had to struggle to use it…

The rest of the day was somewhat boring after the fillings that the dragon had gave them, and soon, they were ready to sleep.

* * *

“Hadn’t we agreed that you would only tell them that part tomorrow?” A female voice asked in the control room, and Aquarius only looked back at her, as he spoke:

“It seemed like they could take it. These kids are stronger than they look, that much I can tell you.”

“Of course they are!” A male voice chimed in, “They are _the_ Spyro and Cynder!”

The female gave the male a glare, making him lower his head back to the consoles that he was tapping, and the female sighed as she looked back at the indigo dragon. “Still, I’m not sure if this was the best to give them so much information at once, especially with the inventions. I mean, they spent a whole lot of time looking at the television.”

“What, are you their mother?” Aquarius asked, and she scoffed at this, and she said once more:

“So, since you dropped that part of the story already, I guess it means that tomorrow you will finish it, right?”

“Yeah, I was thinking about that.” Aquarius said to her, “I think they can take it. They have been taking it considerably well.”

She nodded, and it seemed to be enough to settle the discussion…

* * *

On the following day, Spyro was the one who woke up first, and he spent part of the early morning looking at Cynder as she slept, and he was able to smile to himself.

_I never noticed how beautiful she is while sleeping_. Spyro thought to himself, and he gently raised his paw and used it to gently caress the face of the black dragoness. Cynder groaned a bit at the touch, and Spyro was about to retract his paw, when the black dragoness moved in her sleep, closing the distance between them. Before he knew it, Cynder was nearly rubbing her body into his’.

Spyro blushed furiously at this contact, and he remained immobile as his mind tried to register what was going on, as well as to how his body was reacting to it.

They remained like that for a few moments, until Cynder started to wake up, and she realized what was going on.

She quickly removed herself from that contact, and looked at Spyro, her black scales doing a great job in hiding her blush. “I-I-I’m sorry…” Cynder stuttered, and Spyro only looked at her saying an absent-minded “it’s okay”, as he actually felt a little disappointed that the contact had ended.

From that point on, the day was like the others, with them waiting for Aquarius to arrive with their breakfast, and after a good meal and a little more of that sweet deserts, the two dragons were walking with the adult in direction to the balcony, and they stood in it, looking down.

( ** _soundtrack:_** **Passage of Time - Calm Fantasy Music, by Emily - RollForFantasy, from YouTube** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhh5muf3xNE>)

“So, as I explained, we faced a time of relative peace.” He explained “But this time was still punctuated with wars and advents of extremist groups, like the ‘New Era Martyrs’, and the ‘Order of the Golden Prophet’, which were convinced that they possessed the truth, and wanted to bring forth what was their opinion of a great age for the world in which we all live.” He said, and continued, “Of course, during the course of the time, more purple dragons were born in moments of great need, and each one of them played an important role. We are talking about seven purple dragons, each one born into a different time period.”

He said, and the world continued to change as he explained that, and more silhouettes of purple dragons appeared and disappeared, some were males, other females. Some were four legged, others were faun dragons of two legs. However, they all were dragons of importance.

“The most significant of them was a purple dragon who was born during the time when our society was under the government of an oppressive council that was trying to banish any truth and belief that did not conformed with their own version of truth.” He said, and the image of a purple dragon stood among the crowd beneath them, and this one was actually speaking to the masses, as if he was making a great speech, and the crowd seemed to be roaring with approval. It was hard to avoid noticing that this dragon lacked wings on his back…

“This purple dragon was a wingless dragon.” Aquarius explained. “One of the subspecies I told you about. He became the leader of the resistance, and he would lead a revolution that would depose the members of the council and reestablish the order of our kingdom, returning all of our previous freedoms and helping us grow and become better as people.” He said, and the images showed what he was saying, with the purple dragon leading the crowds marching in the street, and with him being cheered by the people as he stood among them as a great hero.

“from the dragons of the recent history, he is said to have been the most significant, and considered by some as one of our greatest heroes.” Aquarius explained, “So, he is remembered today, just like many other purple dragons who came before him.”

Spyro looked at the dragon, and Aquarius said to him. “Yourself in particular, Spyro.”

The young purple dragon looked up at him, and he looked down, and the city had already changed again, and now it looked different from before.

Before, the buildings that existed in the place had square designs, and were made of equal parts of rock and glass. These buildings had a much more modern look, with rounder designs and they actually seemed to be made of a combination of metal and glass. Not only that, but they had glowing symbols floating over them, some were with letters, others were with symbols that the young dragons could not recognize.

Not only that, the young dragons could also see in the air, besides the dragons and other species flying around, creatures flying in some kind of devices, as well as other flying machines moving across the air as if they were gliding.

This was really something very interesting, and also unsettling.

“This,” Aquarius said, “is the world as we know today… On the 7th century of the current era.” He looked at the two young dragons. “Around fifty thousand years after you two saved the world.”

…

… fifty… thousand…

The two dragons shared a look, none of them saying a word as they took in the full impact of the information that was given to them. Aquarius looked at both of them, and for a long time, no one said a word.

“So, you two doing okay?” He asked, and the two dragons looked up at him, and Cynder was the first one to speak:

“We… we will be…” Cynder told him. “I think…”

Aquarius looked at the two young dragons, and he could not avoid feeling bad for them. Still, he was surprised on how well they were taking it.

The silence lasted for a while, and soon, they returned to the room. This room was now technological and futuristic, and it looked a lot like the rest of the place that Spyro had seem when he broke out of that room. The walls were of a soft shade of gray, with blue circuit-like veins running over it, and furniture of purple coloration and a big oval table made out of metal, and which also had glowing veins running back and forth on it.

Soon, Aquarius had brought to them some food, which the two young dragons eat calmly.

It would be a while before anyone said anything.

“So…” Cynder said, “Fifty thousand years, huh…?”

Aquarius looked at her, and he just nodded. “I think that it must be a shock.” He said to them, “And it is hard to even imagine what you two must be going through on finding out something like that.” He looked at the two dragons, who looked back at him. “However, you two must understand that this is reality, and it must be accepted. There is really nothing we can do about it, so the only way is to keep looking forward and go on.”

The two young dragons shared a look, and they knew that the older dragon was right.

They were still in shock for knowing that so long had passed. Even more for being absolutely sure that everyone that they once knew was long gone. The world had changed a lot, just like Aquarius had told them, and there were many things that they saw that they could not understand.

Still, they knew that there was no way of running from it. They knew that they had to keep moving forward, for it was the only thing that they could do now.

They looked back at Aquarius, and it was clear by the look in their faces that they were willing to keep moving forward, this was something that tranquilized the indigo dragon. However, at the same time, it was something that made this last detail of this particular work all the more anguishing.

“I’m glad that you two are so determined.” He said, and he looked at the two dragons. “You two have been through a lot for someone so young… that is why I feel horrible to have to ask for you to take yet another risk.”

The two dragons looked a bit surprised at him, and Aquarius took a deep breath as he looked at the two young dragons. However, he had his look particularly focused on Spyro.

“A new threat has recently appeared in our world.” Aquarius said to them both. “A threat that could destroy all of our world and everything that we have built up until now.”

The young dragons remained in silence as the dragon talked, his expression deadly serious.

“So, as an answer to this threat, a new purple dragon was born in our time.” He said, “However, there is also a prophecy, one that says that our purple dragon alone would not be able to defeat this great threat.”

He looked at the two dragons, who perked their heads at him, and this brought back someone to Spyro’s memory.

“These purple dragons!” Spyro said, making the older dragon look at him. “But… you said you had _one_ purple dragon. I saw three in there!”

Aquarius looked at him. “That is because of the prophecy.”

There was a silence, as the two young dragons looked at the older dragon, who took a breath, and started to recite something:

_“The shade of the end rises and grows_

_Sun and moons disappear swallowed by the shadows_

_This shadow shall plunge the world in eternal darkness_

_However, the light of a star shines defiant in the stillness_

_But in face of such darkness, even this single light is fated to fade_

_But its light shall burn brighter when twelve more come to its aid_

_Twelve stars, one on each of the twelve houses of the sky_

_Twelve stars which remained all the same while the world spun by_

_Twelve stars which’s light shall aid the brightest star of this darkest night_

_Their combined light shall allow a new dawn to rise and shine bright…”_

He finished, and looked at the two dragons in front of him. “This is the prophecy that was left for us. Of course, as you probably imagine, we had no idea what it could possibly means. We developed many theories about what it could possibly mean, but we had not actual idea of what it could truly be about… until seven months ago.”

The two dragons shared a look, and the indigo dragon continued: “Yes, seven months ago, we accidentally found another purple dragon who had gotten stuck in a condition in which his age had been preserved while the world changed.”

This made the two dragons perk their heads.

“As we found this dragon, suddenly everything made sense.” He said, “The twelve stars that are mentioned in the prophecy, are actually twelve purple dragons. All of which had somehow been left in a condition in which they were able to resist the passage of time, and they slept while the world moved on.”

“Twelve…” Spyro said, and Aquarius continued:

“Yes, twelve. And you are one of them.” He looked at the young purple dragon dead in the eye as he spoke that. “The purple dragon Spyro, the star of the Savior.”

 


	5. The Stars of Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spyro is introduced to the purple dragons he will be working with. They are quite a interesting lot...

Both Spyro and Cynder looked at the older dragon as he explained that, and for a long time, no one said a word. The two young dragons were still coming to terms with everything that Aquarius explained to them, and the last revelation of the older dragon had really made them think.

Aquarius looked back at them, and he sighed. "Yes, I know that it is a lot." He spoke as he diverted his gaze, as if he was ashamed somehow. "I know that I have no right of asking you two to do something dangerous after all that you have been through. But the world needs your help." He looked at the two again. "So, I need to ask you to do this, Spyro. You are part of the prophecy, and only with your help we will be able to save the world."

Spyro continued to look at him, and he looked at Cynder, a million thoughts going on his head again.

 _So… after all I went through, I still need to risk my life again?_  He thought, as he looked down.  _This is my fate? I cannot have a normal life?_

Spyro was awfully silent, and he barely noticed Cynder coming to his side, until she placed a single paw on his shoulder. Spyro raised his head, as he looked surprised at the black dragoness.

She had a soft expression on her face as she looked at him. That single look, to Spyro, was worth more than a thousand words. It told him that she understood how he felt, but she also was giving him support to go and do it. It told him that she was confident that he could pull it out after all that he had been through. It told him that, all along the way, she was going to be right by his side, just as she had been from the very beginning, from the very first time that they had started to travel this path together.

To Spyro that single look meant a lot, and it gave him strength that he didn't knew that he had.

Looking up at the older dragon, Spyro had now a determined expression on his face.

"I'll do it." Spyro said, his voice sounding confident, and this surprised Aquarius, almost as much as when Cynder said:

"We both will."

Aquarius looked at her, and he said:

"C-Cynder… I admire your strength, but there is no need… I mean, you are not part of the prophecy."

"Neither was I part of the one that said that Spyro would defeat Malefor, but I helped him either way." She spoke, and the expression on her face made it clear that the subject was not open for discussion. "Whatever it is going on, I'll not let Spyro face it alone. If he is doing it, then so am I!"

Aquarius could not help but stare at the two young dragons, seeing the determination in their faces, and how they both seemed to be ready to face it, even after all that they had found out and all that they had passed in the following days. The psychiatrics said that even with the shock reduced, the young dragons would take their time to be able to absorb completely the shock, and they could both be hesitant into accepting this kind of responsibility in them in response to their situation. However, there they were, ready to take this mission in a moment's notice, as if it was just natural for them to answer to the call whenever it came.

_And they are both so young… they are truly admirable individuals, truly worth of the legends._

"Well, I'm glad that you are so ready." He spoke to both of them. "So, as soon as you both feel ready, I'll put you in pair with the details."

"Why not now?" Spyro asked, making Aquarius look at him surprised. "I mean, this whole thing was basically to get us ready, right? So, I think that after all of that, we are ready now." Spyro said, "It is as much of a better time as any other."

Aquarius looked at him, and he nodded. "You truly are an admirable dragon." He got up on his legs, and said, "So, if you two are really ready, I guess it is time to start. And first, I'm going to introduce you to some important dragons." He then looked up, and said to the ceiling. "Okay, I think we are done with the simulation!"

It took a few seconds, but then, the whole room changed as the walls, ceiling, and everything in there changed into a blue coloration, as if they were all constructs made of energy. The cyber constructs then dissolved and the room started to change. The walls expanded, and the corners changed to become round. The windows vanished as they merged back into the walls, and the light that formed the constructs now was focusing into glowing veins in them, as the room adopted this new shape around them, Spyro and Cynder were still amaze by all of that.

After a while, the process was complete, and the room they were in changed once more. This time, it resembled a style that was very similar to the futuristic room that they had been, but this one lacked windows or any kind of furnishing. It was basically as great round room with the same glowing blue trimmings in the wall, seeming almost as if they were veins in the wall. The rest of the room was white, and it actually made Spyro remember a lot of the training grounds that there originally were on the Dragon Temple. Spyro and Cynder had the strong feeling that this new version of the room could actually be the  _real_  one, and that was what the room looked like when it was not being use to "simulate" things and other places. Once the room was back to normal, Aquarius spoke again:

"So, I guess it is time for you two to be included in this whole story fully." The two young dragons looked at him as he looked at them. "So, I guess that you two are to be properly introduced to everyone else. If you would follow me." He said, and the two dragons said, and they started to follow him as he walked in direction to the door. As they approached, the circular portal slid open, revealing a clear gateway to the outside of the place.

As the door opened, it startled a group of three creatures, who seemed that they were with their earholes glued to the door when it slid open, and they all looked to be embarrassed as the three dragons looked at them. They said a few rushed apologizes as they started to walk away as fast as they could without running.

Aquarius sighed at this, and he looked at Spyro and Cynder. "I'm sorry for that. Things had been a little like this since you two came." The young dragons looked up at him. "More so than they were for all the others… well, let's keep going." He said as he went back to walking, and the young dragons shared a single look before they started top follow him again.

Aquarius started to lead the young dragons across the hallways. Spyro was a little familiar with the things, cone he had walked around there nearly a week previous. Cynder, on her end, was pretty much seeing the place they were in for the very first time since she was brought in there.

As they walked, Aquarius made sure to guide them so they would avoid the parts of greater movement. After all, the last thing these young dragons needed was to be swarm by someone who would act like a fan-boy. They deserved at least this small break, even if it was only for a time.

Of course, only because an area is one of less movement, it doesn't mean that there is no movement at all in them.

As they walked, they passed by an intersection hallway, and just as they walked, they nearly bumped into other two dragons who were coming.

"-I'm just saying that you should get more in touch with your charming and sensitive side." The male voice said.

"Well, I don't think that this is the moment to-" The female voice started to answer, but it stopped as they nearly bumped into the armored dragon.

These two were interesting dragons. Mainly because they too were purple.

The female was of a coloration of pearly purple in her body, with shade of grey on her underbelly scales. She was clearly a female, but she was rather buff, with well-defined muscles on her body, denoting that she was not a weak dragon, making it clear to anyone who would look at her. In her head, there was a crown of long and curved horns, looking like the ones of an ibex, and she also had some spiky protrusions on her shoulders, and a tailblade that looked like a spiked mace, all of them purely white in coloration. She had a collar-like ornament around her neck, and this one had the symbol of, this much Spyro could tell, the Royal Warfang Family. She had amber-colored eyes, and she looked at Aquarius as she almost bumped into him.

The male was also interesting, with corporal scales of a shade of purple that was on the red-violet tone, and the colors of his underbelly, chest, and jawline were of a softer shade of purple that was very close to mauve. If the female was beefy and clearly stronger, this male was sleeker, with a body that was more curved and clearly slender, with a body that was clearly masculine, but also had several attributes that made it more… delicate, like the round hips and the slender members. On his head there was a long pair of horns, smooth and curved backwards like the one of an antelope, of deep brown coloration, and his face had some frills on the side as a small decoration for his face, with the same mauve coloration of his underbelly. On the tip of his tail, there was a tailblade that looked like a perfectly sculpted leaf of blade, as if someone wanted to create a beautiful sword out of it, and it was smooth and of a bony-white coloration. His eyes were of a baby-blue coloration, well, one of them was, for the left one was covered with an eyepatch, and the one that wasn't looked at Aquarius as he nearly walked right into him.

The female was the bigger of the two, standing a little bigger than Aquarius, while the male was actually a bit smaller.

"Oh! Captain Watercrest." The female said, while the male was… a bit less formal.

"Aquariusy!" He said to the water dragon, with a tone of voice that denoted excitement. "It is so nice to see your face again! I was starting to think you were avoiding me!" He said it with a smile on his face, and Aquarius only smiled at him.

"Yeah, I was really busy in the past days." He said, and the two dragons looked at him, until both of them noticed that he was not alone. He was companied by two young dragons, teenagers, one of them was a black female, while the other was a purple male. They both looked at the newly arrived dragons with surprise.

For a few moments, no one said a single word as they looked at each other, and the female was the first one to talk:

"So… you two are…?" She asked, and the two dragons shared a look with each other, before they looked at Aquarius, and he simply nodded at them.

The young dragons took this as a sign, and Spyro looked at the two new dragons, and he said: "My name is Spyro. And this is Cynder." He said, gesturing both to himself and to the black dragoness, and the two older purple dragons shared a look.

"So, you are the legendary Spyro…" The male adult purple dragon said, and he looked very intently at the younger purple dragon as he said that. "You are so… young…" He said, and to Spyro he almost seemed disappointed.

There was a long and awkward silence, and the female broke it by clearing her throat, making the eyes turn to her. "Spyro, I cannot say how much of an honor is to know you personally." She said, ande she bowed her head to him in a sign of respect. Spyro really felt uneasy when others started to treat him like that.

"O-okay." Spyro said simply, and he looked at the two older dragons.

"My name is Allisandra Swiftclaw." The female said, "General of the royal guard of Warfang, commander of the XXVIII division of infantry and aerial division of the great kingdom, and knight of the Order of the Iron Claw, answering directly to the king Destonius Warfang." She spoke it in a solemn way and it almost made she sound truly like a soldier and a knight.

Spyro looked at her for a moment, and he absorbed the fact that she was truly a dragon knight. Spyro heard a lot about them, and he knew that they were already present in the time when the war with Malefor's forces raged. It was way back on his time…

Wow. Thinking about something that to him felt like a few days ago as "his time" was something new to Spyro.

"Oh, yeah!" The male adult purple dragon said, and he looked a bit embarrassed at himself. "Of course, where are my manners?" He said, and he composed himself, and he soon was clearing his throat and speaking. "I'm Cedric Warfang. Son of Emperium Warfang. Brother of Invictus Warfang and Secundius Warfang."

Spyro looked at him in surprise. "What!?" He said, "Warfang? As in, the royal family Warfang, to whom Warfang is named after?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Cedric said, as he smiled. "In fact, I am… I mean, I  _was_  king of Warfang… for a time." He said, and Spyro only stared at him in surprise and wonder.

"Yes, in fact, his story is quite famous, as so is the one of most purple dragons who ever lived." Aquarius said, and the other dragons looked at him. "In fact, you will find out that the other purple dragons you are going to meet have their own fair share of fame and adventures to share with you. Now, I do believe it would be good to meet the rest of them, right?" He said, and the young dragons shared a look, before nodding at him.

"Oh, can we come?" Cedric said, sounding somewhat excited. Aquarius looked at him, and he said:

"Sure, come."

Soon, the group was walking across the hallway, and Allisandra was talking. "Everyone else is in the danger room for training. Except for Jocasta, she is watching Shiloh and Shiryu."

"Well, it does makes things much simpler." Aquarius said, and the group continued to walk across the hallway, and as they walked, Spyro and Cynder both could hear sounds that almost seemed to be one of a great battle. There were explosions, roars, and also the sounds of metal hitting metal.

The two dragons shared a look as they heard these sounds.

"Don't worry." Aquarius said to the two young dragons. "The danger room is one of the rooms we use for training. It is to simulate situations of combat, pretty much like the simulation room you were into."

The dragons looked at him, and as they walked, the sounds of battle almost sounded as if they were getting louder.

Soon, they were reaching the front of a door, and as they approached, the doors opened.

What they saw almost made them both instinctively move into battle stance.

Inside, there was an actual battle going on. There was a group of bluish, ghostly dragons and beasts attacking and roaring in rage as they did their best to attack. On the other end of the battle, there was a group of dragons who was fighting these visages, they were nine, and they were all purple.

There was one who was particularly massive and big. This one was fending against a great and winged serpent, and it was biting him, but he seemed not even to notice. Passing by him, Spyro saw a purple dragon who was moving his forepaws/hands, and Spyro could swear that the visages were being fling as if they were toys at the gestures that he did.

However, Spyro found it hard to follow them, as well as all the other purple dragons in the place, for the battle was fierce, and there was a lot of things happening all at the same time. Spyro felt kind of dizzy, especially with each individual purple dragon that seemed to be fighting their own on the middle of it, almost as if it was actually a war.

"Wow…" was all that Spyro managed to saw as he saw that, and Cynder was in awe, as much as he was.

"They are all making progress." Aquarius commented, paying little mind to the awe that the two younger dragons seemed to have as they looked at the scene.

"Indeed, they are improving significantly. Of course, some of them still need to work better in the team work."

"Adamaius." Aquarius said, and Allisandra only nodded at him.

As they spoke, Spyro focused on one purple dragon of there. One that he had already saw before. The dragon that was introduced to him as "Adamaius". He was moving across the enemy dragons, and he was both amazing and fearsome.

Amazing because he was able to move past the enemies as if they were nothing, and he was proving to be really skilled in combat. However, he was fearsome, because he was attacking without mercy, and at each enemy that he passed, he was able to slice off one limb, or perhaps even a severed head.

The scariest part was that the dragon was not doing that with any weapon that Spyro would be able to see, he was only attacking with his claws. Still, he was able to cut off members and heads and make it look easy. Of course, the look of cold determination that Spyro saw on his face did nothing to help on how frightening the dragon looked.

This was cut when Aquarius decided to say: "End combat simulation!"

As if on cue, all of the phantasmal enemies froze in place, and their images oscillated for a moment, before dissolving into dots of blue light and vanishing in the air, as if they had never existed.

The purple dragons looked a bit surprised at this, in fact, one that was wrestling fell flat on his chest as the enemy he was wrestling suddenly vanished. They took a few moments to realize that the simulation had been stopped, and to pinpoint the one responsible for it. They all looked at Aquarius.

"Hey, Aquarius." Said a male purple dragon. He was a dragon that was different from the ones that Spyro had seen on his previous years, even though he had seen some of them since he woke up. It was one of the two-legged dragons that Aquarius explained to them about. His body was toned, but at the same time it was slender, with his legs being toned and looking strong and great to run. His arms were shorter and thinner than his legs (think of something like a dinosaur), and they ended into hands with four digits in them and white claws. His tail was long and ended into an axe-like blade, and his wings were on his back, and they looked like they were efficient on flying. This dragon stood as tall as Aquarius as he stood on two legs. His body was covered in scales of a tone of Tyrian purple, and unlike other dragons, he didn't had other colorations on his body, like his underbelly and jawline, his whole body was a sea of that shade of purple, leaving no doubt of his quality as a purple dragon. His eyes were of a strong shade of amber, and they looked at the captain as he spoke. "So, what is up? We were kicking some serious tail in here. Have we had enough training for today? Because I wouldn't mind taking a break." He turned his gaze to the adult dragoness who was with him. "And I surely wouldn't mind spending it with some nice company."

Allisandra only looked at him coldly, but it was Cedric who said something. "Oh, I bet you would, sweetie." He said, and the tone he used was somewhat… flirtations. This made the other purple dragon take one step back.

"Get off, man. I told you, I don't like this fruit!" He said, and Cedric chuckled.

"You know, girls don't like guys who don't have sense of humor." He said as he clicked his tongue, and Aquarius finally decided to talk:

"Actually, I came here because we decided it was time for the introductions of the last member of the prophecy."

This made the purple dragon look at him, and he seemed to finally have noticed the two young dragons that came with Aquarius group. He looked at them for a while, and as he did, other purple dragons were gathering around, and they all looked at the young dragons, who felt uneasy.

"Okay, everyone. I'd like to introduce you all to Spyro, the Star of the Savior."

There was some staring and also some whispering coming after that.

"So, it  _is_  true!"

"So that is the legendary Spyro?"

"He is kind of young, right?"

"Also," Aquarius said, "You probably heard about this already, but we found someone else in the crystal with him." He gestured at the black dragoness. "This is Cynder."

More whispering followed.

"Wow! They really found both of them!"

"She is young too, the stories didn't said that she was, like, huge?"

"She doesn't quite look like a daughter of Tiamat."

"So!" Aquarius said once more, so silence the whispering. "Spyro, Cynder, I'd like to introduce you to the other purple dragons who are part of the prophecy." He spoke, and gestured to two-legged dragon who came to talk to them first. "This is Kastiel, the Star of the Lover."

"Hey." The dragon said, waving at them and offering a smile. The two dragons nodded back. Next, Aquarius presented them to another dragon.

This one was a little bigger than Kastiel, and he looked back at the Spyro and Cynder with a serene expression, as they both looked back at him. He was a dragon that had a very calm posture, and he was clearly much older than the others, still, he had a certain aura about himself that was the kind of thing that inspired respect. The purple of his scales was somewhat faded due to old age, making it have the shade of a pearly purple, and the same fade was on the cream of his underbelly. His wings were big, and the white membrane of them had several tears on them, which was somewhat to be expected from dragons who were very old. His face was full of signs of age, and yet, the look on his eyes and the smile were as jovial as someone who was the same age as Spyro and Cynder. He was looking intently at the two young dragons with these eyes of a faded shade of green. It was hard to tell his age, but he surely had a lot of years on his back, even though both Spyro and Cynder had the feeling that he was not the kind of weak dragon. His tailblade ended into some kind of bone-ring, which almost looked as it was part of some kind of special scepter. On his head, there was a crown of eight small horns that projected from the top of his head and backwards, and they actually looked like some kind of crown.

"This is Cosmo, the Star of the Hermit." He spoke, and the dragon nodded at them, he had a calm smile in his face that made Spyro remember a lot of the Chronicler… Also, maybe it was just Spyro, but he had the feeling that there was something about that dragon that was somewhat… familiar.

"It is nice to finally meet you in person, young dragons." He spoke. "I'm glad that this path was the one that was chosen for our meeting."

"Huh?"

"He speaks like that a lot." Another male voice said, "You get used to it."

Spyro and Cynder turned to the source of this voice, and they couldn't hold back their surprise. Before them stood another purple dragon, and this one had a slightly muscled body, but not very much, somewhat like Cyril or Volteer. His body was covered into scales, most of it of an intense purple coloration, while the underbelly and chest was covered into arrow-styled plates of a white color, the same color of the wing-membrane. The tailblade in the end of the tail was shape like a long spike, pure and simple, and it was on the same bone-white coloration as the horns on both heads. Yes, both  _heads_. This purple dragon had two. Both heads looked down at the young dragons with interest into their eyes, which were of different colorations. The head of the left had a left eye of orange color and a right eye of blue color, while the head of the right had a left eye of blue color and right eye of orange coloration. It was as if the heads where each the mirror of the other, and it also applied to the horns. The left head had a left horn that curved up and forward, while the right horn projected down and backwards in a curved fashion, with the other head having a mirrored version of this.

Spyro and Cynder both looked up at the dragon with two heads, and the heads looked at them, before one of them, the right head said: "Yes, we are a two-headed purple dragon, and it's rude to stare." This seemed to break the two dragons off their trance, and they said some apologizes.

The head of the left then spoke: "Nice to meet you, I'm Soren Mysticus". He spoke, and he rose his snout with pride as he spoked that, before adding, "And this tumor on my shoulder is Randall."

"But you may call me Randy." The head of the right said, and Aquarius approached.

"They are twins, so to speak." The dragon of the army spoke, "They are the Star of the Double."

"Quite appropriated." Said another one, "Even though it seems of a situation so curious that some would even consider that the Ancestors decided to make a joke out of it."

The two dragons looked at the owner of that new voice, and they saw a dragon that was sleeker than the other one, he looked as if he never saw many battles in his life, and he actually looked kind of frail. He was another two-legged dragon, like Kastiel, but he was clearly not as built as him, and his body was covered into scales of a shade of medium purple, and he had a shade of white going down his jawline all the way to the tip of his tail, which had a spiral boneblade on it. His arms were long and they also looked thin and rather frail, clearly not the kind that was meant for battle. The dragon was taller than Kastiel by a shoulder, and he looked down at the young dragons with his smart, grey-colored eyes, which hide behind some half-moon glasses of golden trimming. His head was crown by two sets of horns, one curving backwards as the ones of some kind of goat, and the second was a smaller set of four horns that curved around his features, almost seeming some kind of styled hair (to who knew what hair could possibly look like).

"Well, I can say that is a pleasure to meet the legendary duo of dragons, Spyro and Cynder. Even though you two are quite different from what I expected." He spoke to the two young dragons, and he added, "My name is Hanson Alisterius Garmanius Temoroso Oceanus, and I am the Star of the Sage, or so I have been told."

"Yeah, he is the smartest of us all, and he makes sure to remind us of this." Kastiel said, and the young dragons looked at him, before looking back at the dragon named Hanson… his full name was way too long…

"Yes, and also, there is him." Hanson said as he gestured to behind himself, and the young dragons looked. To see the biggest dragon that they had ever seen.

The build and the massive size of that dragon suggested that he was an earth dragon, like Terrador. However, even the massive earth Guardian dwarfed in comparison to that giant that was standing in that room. The dragon was massive, nearly six times the size of a regular adult earth dragon, and he was a true behemoth, covered in muscles. The scales on his body were of a deep shade of purple, and they looked dull, his underbelly had scales of a shade of gray that was as deep and dull as his purple, and he had spikes of a black color on his shoulders. His wing-membranes were of a softer shade of brown, and the tail of that great dragon ended into a massive, hammer-like tailblade. Looking really up, the two young dragons could meet his eyes, which were of a very light shade of green, and they were surprisingly soft, despite the appearance of the dragon, who had massive horns on his head like the ones of a cape buffalo, and he looked down at them with a neutral expression.

"This." Aquarius' voice came, startling the young dragons. "Is Maximus Ironscale, the Star of the Colossus."

The two nearly took steps back when the dragon lowered his head, and he moved his paw, offering a single clawed finger to them.

"Nice to meet you." He said with a voice that was as powerful and imposing as his size.

Spyro hesitated for a moment, but soon, he was able to move his paw, and he grabbed the tip of the claw and shook it. Maximus seemed to have approved it, as he nodded at him, and soon, he was putting his massive paw on the ground once more.

Spyro and Cynder than turned their attention to the other dragon that approached, and this one was looking at Spyro as he walked in their direction.

"Spyro, I do believe that you already met Adamaius, the Star of the Burglar." Aquarius said, as the intimidating-looking purple dragon approached, and the way he looked at Spyro made the smaller purple dragon feel uncomfortable. Cynder looked curiously at that purple dragon, and she felt something about him.

"Y-yes, we already met-" Spyro started to say, but he was interrupted by Adamaius saying:

"It is all story, right?"

"Huh?"

"You." Adamaius said, being as direct as possible. "World breaking apart. Black magic. Evil purple dragon. It is all just a story, right?" He asked to the purple dragon. "Or at least most of it."

Spyro looked at him with a tilted head, and Adamaius seemed to get annoyed by this. He was about to open his mouth when Hanson stepped on his way.

"Well, good to know you already made acquaintances with Mr. Bloodpaw." He said, breaking the tension. "Don't worry, you will have time to get used to his rude ways."

"Thank you, Hanson." Aquarius said, and Adamaius looked at the two adults, before looking back at the purple dragon, as if he was saying: "we talk later". It made Spyro quite uncomfortable under his watchful gaze.

A voice made throat-clearing sound that caught the others' attentions, and made them turn their attention to the two other purple dragons in the place.

"And of course." Aquarius said "You have just met Allisandra Swiftclaw, the Star of the Knight…" The dragoness bowed her head once more. "… and Cedric Warfang, the Star of the Prince."

"But we all know that he wanted to be a princess…" Adamaius mumbled, granting a few looks from the others, but Cedric didn't actually seemed offended in the slightest, he even said:

"Yeah, but being a Star is already enough for me." He was smiling as he said that, and Spyro could not help but look in his direction for a bit, and after this, Aquarius cleared his throat, and he said: "Well, that is it. These are most of the members of the Stars of Destiny."

"That is the name they are giving us." The oldest dragon, Cosmos, said to the young dragons. "Sounds quite interesting."

"Sounds like the rejected name from a comic book superhero team."

Spyro looked at him, unsure of what that meant.

"Well, we only have nine stars in here. Where are the other four?"

"Well, Jo is with Shiloh and Shiryu." Kastiel said, "And Asher said something about a new 'game console', or whatever."

"Again?" Allisandra asked. "This is the third time this week that he misses a training session! He is a part of this prophecy along with all of us! Actually, he might just be the most important part!"

"Come on, Al, give him a break, he is just a kid." Aquarius said, "I think he is still trying to take a grip about this whole situation. I mean, he might be a purple dragon, but the prophecy only came very recently. Up until them his life had been calm."

"No purple dragon has a calm life." Adamaius said somberly "He should expect something like that."

There was a heavy silence following these words, and after a while, someone finally spoke: "Sooooo, since the Savior is meeting the other Stars, maybe we could introduce him to the ones that are in this building now!" Cedric said, "Shiloh has been talking all week about having met you! And Shiryu has been crazy about that as well! They are huge fans of you, you know?"

"Oh, really?" Spyro asked.

"Oh, yeah, that is what he needs, a fangirl and fanboy crowding him." Kastiel says. "Come on, the guy just got out of the room and found himself a member of a prophecy. Give him some breathing room, he can meet the other later."

"I agree." Allisandra said, "Right now, I think we should know your specialties."

"My what?" Spyro asked, as he looked up at her.

"Your specialties." Jocasta said, "The kinds of special elemental manipulations that you know."

"I bet he knows a lot." Soren said, and the other head, Randy, spoke: "Of course he does, he is Spyro!"

Spyro felt a bit surprised in that moment. He looked at the other dragons, who were looking at him, almost expectantly. "I-I… Well, I was taught the basic of the elements by the Guardians." He spoke to them, "They taught me all about it."

"All eighteen?" Asked Adamaius, with a raised eyebrow.

"Wha- eighteen? No. There are only four guardians." Spyro said, and the other dragons shared looks among them, before looking back at the young purple dragon. Spyro was feeling like he had missed something.

"Captain Watercrest." Spoke Hanson "You have not told this young dragon about the other elemental paths and sub-paths?"

"Well, it seemed to be a little too complex to add to all that he had already learned in the past week."

Spyro looked at them, and he couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. It was Hanson who spoke next:

"I see. Well, I guess that he will learn it in due time."

"So, what elements do you know?" Allisandra asked, and Spyro looked up before saying:

"Fire, Earth, Ice and Electricity."

"Two main paths and two sub-paths, not bad." Hanson said once more. "Anything else?"

Spyro looked up at them. "No, nothing really. Wait, you mean that there is more elements?"

"Duh!" Adamaius said at him, as if he was asking a very stupid question.

"There are six main elemental paths and many sub-paths, and you will be introduced to all of them in due time, as part of your training." Aquarius said, making the purple dragon look at him.

"Oh… okay." Spyro said, and the other purple dragons shared looks before someone else spoke:

"Well, you have any specialization in the paths you control?" Hanson asked once more. "I mean, you have any specialized use of the elements, like increasing or decreasing temperature from a distance, or having control over plants?"

"Not really, I… I didn't even knew that it was possible to do things like that." Spyro admitted, and a snort called his attention.

"The legendary Spyro knows nearly nothing." Adamaius said, "You know what this spells out about the legend of the 'Savior of the World', right?"

"Adamaius Bloodpaw!" Allissandra said, granting the attention to shift to her. "Show respect. We all are partners in this. We need to at least be respectful with each other."

Adamaius just scoffed at this, looking away. Meanwhile, the attention shifted back to Spyro.

"So, you were saying?"

Spyro felt uneasy for a moment, but he resumed to speak. He explained to them what he had been taught, and he discovered that what the Guardians had taught him about the elements were actually different levels of the basic.

"Including the Fury Attacks?"

This caught the attention of the other dragons.

"So, you mastered the use of the Fury already?" Hanson asked. "At your age? Now  _that_  is impressive."

"Actually, I mastered the use of Fury three years ago…. I mean, three years before the first time I was stuck in a crystal…" The whole concept was still something that Spyro was trying to come to terms with.

"You mastered the Fury at  _Twelve_!?" Adamaius said. "That is impossible!"

"Well, looks like you are no longer the youngest dragon to master the Fury." Randall said, and his twin soon meddled by saying:

"Actually, since Spyro was born  _way_  before him, he never truly was."

Adamaius only snorted as he turned away. "So, he dominates  _one_  advanced elemental technique. Big deal! He still knows nearly nothing major."

"So, you know the Elemental Fury of all of your elements?" Someone else asked, and Spyro answered:

"Well, yes, as well as Convexity."

Even Adamaius turned back to look at Spyro over his shoulder.

"Convexity, you say? Well, that is an element that is hard for a purple dragon to master. Mostly because no dragon was ever born under this element, at least not during my time."

"And it did not changed." Aquarius said, "That much I can assure you, it is still considered an elusive element. Said to have properties like bending time and space. Allowing to create portals or even to control the flowing of time."

"I can do that too." Spyro said, granting the eyes to be on himself once more. "I can slow down time. But I should only use it on an emergency."

"You are totally right, young dragon." Cosmo said, smiling at Spyro. "Such power is so grandiose that it is the kind of which you should never abuse."

"Oh, not that now!" Adamaius said, "If you start one more speech I'm gonna puncture holes in my own eardrums!"

Spyro only looked back and forth at them, quite unsure of how to proceed in a moment like that. In that, he turned his eyes to Cynder, who had ended up left out of the conversation, and he saw that she was as lost as he was.

"Wow, won't you look at that!" Cedric said, gathering everyone's attentions. "We were so focused in our purple compatriot that we nearly forgot his friend! How rude of all of us!" He said, and everyone now seemed to acknowledge Cynder. "What about you, girl? According to the legends you also have some skills yourself. I bet you two make the greatest team." He said, demonstrating more interest in the black dragoness, and Cynder now saw herself in the center of the attention.

However, before she could say anything, Adamaius spoke. "Oh, for Yo! If you all want to know what someone is capable of then you shouldn't ask, but have them show you!" All eyes now turned to him, and he looked at the others in a way that could almost be describe as annoyed. "When you asks someone what they can do the answer is rarely reliable! If you want to get a  _real_  impression on someone's skills, you gotta see them in action. That is the only way to truly know if someone can take the hit or not."

There was a brief silence, and soon, a voice was speaking:

"Well, he does have a point." It was Hanson. "There is a great number of individuals who either overestimate or underestimate their own skills when talking about them. Sometimes, opinion cannot be reliable, at least not as much as witnessing the extent of someone's skill with your own eyes."

"So, are you saying we put them through the training?" It was Kastiel, and he looked at the young dragons, "I mean, they just got out of the other room."

"Maybe they should." Allisandra said, "After all, they would join us for training sooner or later. They both look to be in good physical shape. Perhaps they could start their training now."

"I agree with them being in physical shape." Hanson said, "However, I'm not sure about the part of letting them train now. They had surely been through a lot."

"They had a whole week to rest."

"Yes, a week during which they received an awful lot of information that certainly was as draining to them as a heavy training would be."

"Anyway, I think that if they feel like it, maybe they could train."

With that, all eyes turned to the two young dragons. Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, and Allisandra asked them.

"So, do you two feel like maybe showing us your skills in a simulated combat?"

"But you don't have to if you don't want." Aquarius said, and the two dragons looked at him, before they looked at each other. There was a long moment of silence, before Cynder looked up at Spyro in the eye, and nodded.

Spyro only nodded back, and he looked up at them, and said only three words:

"Bring it on."


End file.
